Page:PassionDeathOfJesusChristV5.djvu/37

 dying for  the  love  of  us,  says,  “Yes,  Lord,  I will  attend and see  if  there  be  any  love  like  unto  Thy  love."  By which  he  means,  I do  indeed  see  and  understand,  O my most  loving  Redeemer,  how  much  Thou  didst  suffer upon  that  infamous  tree; but  what  most  constrains  me to  love  Thee  is  the  thought  of  the  affection  which  Thou hast  shown  me  in  suffering  so  much,  in  order  that  I might  love  Thee.

That which  most  inflamed  St.  Paul  with  the  love  of Jesus  was  the  thought  that  he  chose  to  die,  not  only  for all men,  but  for  him  in  particular : He  loved  me, and  delivered Himself  up  for  me. Yes, he  has  loved  me,  said  he, and for  my  sake  he  gave  himself  up  to  die. And thus ought every  one  of  us  to  say; for  St.  John  Chrysostom asserts that  God  has  loved  every  individual  man  with  the same love  with  which  he  has  loved  the  world : “ He  loves each man  separately  with  the  same  measure  of  charity with which  he  loves  the  whole  world."  So  that  each one  of  us  is  under  as  great  obligation  to  Jesus  Christ  for having  suffered  for  every  one,  as  if  he  had  suffered  for him  alone.

For supposing,  my  brother,  Jesus  Christ  had  died  to save  you  alone,  leaving  all  others  to  their  original  ruin, what a debt  of  gratitude  you  would  owe  to  him! But you ought  to  feel  that  you  owe  him  a greater  obligation still for  having  died  for  the  salvation  of  all. For if  he  had died for  you  alone,  what  sorrow  would  it  not  have  caused you to  think  that  your  neighbors,  parents,  brothers, and friends  would  be  damned,  and  that  you  would,  when this life  was  over,  be  forever  separated  from  them? If