SERMONS OF ST. ALPHONSUS LIGUORI pt. 4.1: "On The Love Of Jesus Christ For Us, And On Our Obligations To Love Him"

This is a series of the sermons of St. Alphonsus Liguori. Click the link below for part 3.3.

http://smcdefense.blogspot.com/2022/08/sermons-of-st-alphonsus-liguori-pt-33.html

“And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” Luke iii. 6.

  THE Saviour of the world, whom, according to the prediction of the prophet Isaias, men were one day to see on this Earth “and all flesh shall see the salvation of God,” has already come. We have not only seen him conversing among men, but we have also seen him suffering and dying for the love of us. Let us, then, this morning consider the love which we owe to Jesus Christ at least through gratitude for the love which he bears to us. In the first point we shall consider the greatness of the love which Jesus Christ has shown to us; and in the second we shall see the greatness of our obligations to love him.

First Point. On the great love which Jesus Christ has shown to us

1. “Christ,” says St. Augustine, “came on Earth that men might know how much God loves them.” He has come, and to show the immense love which this God bears us, he has given himself entirely to us, by abandoning himself to all the pains of this life, and afterwards to the scourges, to the thorns, and to all the sorrows and insults which he suffered in his passion, and by offering himself to die, abandoned by all, on the infamous tree of the cross. ”Who loved me, and delivered himself for me.” (Gal. ii. 20.)

2. Jesus Christ could save us without dying on the cross, and without suffering. One drop of his blood would be sufficient for our redemption. Even a prayer offered to his Eternal Father would be sufficient; because, on account of his divinity, his prayer would be of infinite value, and would therefore be sufficient for the salvation of the world, and of a thousand worlds. ”But” says St. Chrysostom, or another ancient author, “what was sufficient for redemption was not sufficient for love.” To show how much he loved us, he wished to shed not only a part of his blood, but the entire of it, by dint of torments. This may be inferred from the words which he used on the night before his death: “This is my blood of the new testament, which shall be shed for many.” (Matt. xxvi. 28.) The words shall be shed show that, in his passion, the blood of Jesus Christ was poured forth even to the last drop. Hence, when after death his side was opened with a spear, blood and water came forth, as if what then flowed was all that remained of his blood. Jesus Christ, then, though he could save us without suffering, wished to embrace a life of continual pain, and to suffer the cruel and ignominious death of the cross. “He humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” (Phil. ii. 8.)

3. ”Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” (John xv. 13.) To show his love for us, what more could the Son of God do than die for us? What more can one man do for another than give his life for him? “Greater love than this no man hath.” Tell me, my brother, if one of your servants if the vilest man on this Earth had done for you what Jesus Christ has done in dying through pain on a cross, could you remember his love for you, and not love him?

4. St. Francis of Assisium appeared to be unable to think of anything but the passion of Jesus Christ; and, in thinking of it, he continually shed tears, so that by his constant weeping he became nearly blind. Being found one day weeping and groaning at the foot of the crucifix, he was asked the cause of his tears and lamentations. He replied: ”I weep over the sorrows and ignominies of my Lord. And what makes me weep still more is, that the men for whom he has suffered so much live in forgetfulness of him.”

Reference:

https://sensusfidelium.com/meditations/st-alphonsus/st-alphonsus-sermons-for-every-sunday-of-the-year/sermon-iv-fourth-sunday-of-advent-on-the-love-of-jesus-christ-for-us/