This is what it means to live: in everything to say “yes” to the One who is among us. Our life in this “yes” becomes his glory, the reverberation of his presence within reality. Our life becomes the locus of his presence, the human glory of Christ; it is the locus of this gratuitousness that is possible, the locus where it is possible to feel moved, the locus of this freedom that says “yes” within every circumstance.
What is the value of life if not to be given? What is the value of life if not to say “yes”? What is the value of this instant if not to say “yes” to Being, “yes” to him who makes us life? In this way we become – right there where God has put us – presence. It is not a question of numbers: saying “I,” wanting happiness here and now, is not a question of outcome. It is a consciousness, it is a consciousness that moves our freedom – and this is the most beautiful verification, the most beautiful verification of the truth of this experience – to give our life, to give it gratuitously, give it as Christ asks you for it, give it for the purpose that men may know him, may love him, that this new humanity may flourish within everybody’s lives. Giving in gladness what we have, this is true life!
Father Stefano Alberto is an Italian priest of the Missionary Fraternity of Saint Charles Borromeo who teaches theology at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan, Italy.
