THE ROAD TO THE CROSS: A PATHWAY TO SCOUT’S COMMITMENT
We remember Jesus’ words:
“This is my commandment: that you love each other as I have loved you. There is no greater love than this — that a man should lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13)
On Good Friday, Jesus made us understand on His cross: “The measure of love is to love without measure.” The road to Jesus’s cross is a pathway to Scout’s commitment.
The Mafeking cadets put their lives in jeopardy to carry Baden-Powell’s message, forgetful of their own safety, putting their young lives at risk — as though the lives to be rescued were their own. There, I would say with “BP”: if we were looking truly for an example in our day, here is an authentic rendition of the labor of love.
The German philosopher Schopenhauer wonders how an individual can so forget himself and his own safety that he will risk his life to save another — as though that person’s danger were his own. Such a one, Schopenhauer answers, is acting out of an instinctive recognition of the truth that he and the other are one. A Scout has been moved not from the lesser and secondary knowledge of himself as separate from others but from an immediate experience of the greater truth: that we are all one, created in the image and likeness of God. Schopenhauer names such motivation compassion and identifies it as the one and only inspiration of inherently moral action.
As Scouts, we are compassionate and loving. Albert Camus echoes the Scout call for life among people:
“Those I love are the men who are alive today, and walk the same earth. It’s them whom I hail, it’s for them I am fighting, for them I am ready to lay down my life.” (A. Camus, Just Assassins, p.260)
“Greater love no man than this, that a man lays down his life for his friend.” (John 15:13; Gaudium et Spes, No. 32)
“What gift might one give the person one loves if not the gift of one’s very self?” (Y. Congar, Called to Life, St Paul Publications, p.79)
Scout vision and mission is a commitment based on faith, love, and a sense of sacrifice. Camus again:
“I cannot stand aloof with all this suffering around me, I am torn with pity for these poor people… I am linked to the world by all my acts, to men by all my pity and gratitude.” (L’Envers, Paris, 1958, p.37)
Being a Scout means living, risking, and sacrificing one’s life for the sake of others: “A Scout’s duty is to be useful and to help others.” And we are to do our duty before anything else — even giving up our own pleasure, comfort, or safety.
When in doubt between two actions, we must ask, “Which is my duty?” — that is, “Which is best for other people?” — and do that. We must Be Prepared at any time to save life, to help injured persons. We must do a good turn to somebody every day.
Scouting is a Pathway, a Call for Life, and a mission to risk one’s life to save, preserve, and promote that of others — as individuals or as a group.
“The greatest grace of God and the greatest happiness of man is the ability to attest one’s ideal with one’s blood.” — Maximilian Kolbe
“To do one’s duty to God and one’s country, to help other people at all times, and to obey the Scout Law” — requires us always to be prepared to lay down our lives.
“He who wants to avoid danger, will lose his life, but whoever devotes himself through love of Christ to the service of others will live on like the grain of wheat which dies, but only appears to die. If it did not die, it would remain alone.” — Final words of Archbishop Romero
“Those people who avoid every thorny matter so as not to be harassed, so as not to have conflicts and difficulties, do not light up the world they live in.” — Archbishop Romero
Jesus clearly understood His life mission on earth. At age 12, He said, “I must be about my Father’s business,” and 21 years later, dying on the cross at the age of 33, He said, “It is finished. Mission accomplished.”
Some of us saw Jesus as a teacher and devoted their lives to teaching. Others followed Jesus as one who loved the sick, and opened hospices and hospitals. Some saw Him as the friend of the poor and gave witness to that. Others, inspired by His Sermon on the Mount, dedicated their lives to justice and equality. Still others were moved by the suffering and injustice of the world and consecrated their lives to Justice and Peace. All of them kept the flame of hope alive.
If you, Scout, look at Jesus — what do you see? And how do you respond to what you see?
Fr Jean Pascal DIAME, Spiritan Missionary, England