[Jesus said,] “I have told you this so that my joy might be in you and your joy might be complete. This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father. It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you. This I command you: love one another."  

Realizing that courage can never be only in thought, Claus von Stauffenberg says directly during this session of "Valkyrie," "We have to kill Hitler." He knew that in order to put Germany in a good light with the rest of the world, in order to save lives, someone had to annihilate the evil of Hitler. So, with courage that could have cost him his life at any moment, he set about his plan. Von Stauffenberg knew what was at stake from the very beginning. Of course, we know that von Stauffenberg did not succeed, and that he was executed because of it, but his courage brings up the question of what we would do if we had the feelings and status of von Stauffenberg in the setting of World War II Germany. 

The ancient philosopher Aristotle once said that "Moral excellence comes about as a result of habit. We become just by doing just acts, temperate by doing temperate acts, brave by doing brave acts." Courage is not courage unless it leads to courageous acts. Love is not love unless it leads to acts of love of others.

Werner von Haeften, von Stauffenberg's assistant, said at one point in the movie "Valkyrie": "God promised Abraham that he would not destroy Sodom if he could find ten righteous men. I have a feeling that for Germany it may come down to one." The question for a person of conscience is simply: "What if you were the one"?

The question will result in personal meaning only if we can apply the concept to our lives right now, much like the question: "If you were the only one who realized that you had to do something good, what would you do?" Jesus was willing to give up his life in order to have his doctrine of love dispersed to the world. During the last Supper, knowing what would happen to him, Jesus said, "No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends." And he said further: "you are my friends." The ultimate proof of love is dying on behalf of another. 

Unfortunately, there is contradiction in the lives of many Christians. If all of Jesus' doctrines can be summarized in the word "love," Jesus' followers often do not show it. It takes courage to put it into practice. Courage that will risk execution in order to rid the world of an evil, as von Stauffenberg did. In a more personal way, courage might mean risking the ridicule of friends to defend someone or suffering the consequence of being an outcast in order to help another. The point is that speaking about love is one thing: we may do it well, even in an exceptional way, but it will never amount to anything until we put it into the practicality of day-to-day life.              

THOUGHT
 
PRAYER

Good and gracious God, during his life on earth, your Son gave us what he called "his commandment," namely that we should love one another. It is a difficult command for us. Help us not only understand it, but to have the courage to accept it as a guide for our lives. Be with us, we pray. 

Questions, comments? Let me know. Email Fr. Mike

©2007 Capuchin Province of Mid-America
Fr. Mike Scully is a member of the Capuchin Province of Mid-America