Nov 9 Thu
Veteran actress Meryl Streep recently received the “Princess of Asturias Award.”
In the ceremony, she declared: "Empathy is the beating-heart of the genius of an actor." In plain English: “A good actor feels empathy for the character he impersonates.”
If you are going to play the role of Julius Caesar, it is not enough to know everything about his life and conquests. You must feel empathy for him, to understand and share his feelings. Empathy is your emotional reaction to the observed experiences of another person. Having empathy increases your likelihood of helping others and showing compassion.
Now, in this life, you are like an actor playing a role; you are playing the role of “the person God wants you to be.” There is a difference between that “ideal you” and “the real you.” Christian life is to try to approximate “the real you” to “the person God wants you to be.”
And who that “ideal person” would be for me? – Christ himself.
God wants you to be “another christ,” Christ passing by. Thus, you must “empathize,” you must acquire the same sentiments he had, the same preferences; to love what he loved, reject what he rejected.
“When you love someone a lot, you want to know things about him. We meditate on the life of our Lord, from his Birth in a manger to his Death on the Cross, and then his Resurrection. And we hold our Lord's life in our memory as if it were a film. So, without needing a book, just by closing our eyes at any moment, we can contemplate him, and live with him, and with our Lady, who is his Mother and ours, and with the holy women, and the Apostles. We come up with his image, not as if we were watching a film, but as if we ourselves were actually part of that film, by virtue of our love."
“We cannot stand still. We must keep going ahead toward the goal St Paul marks out: ‘It is not I who live, it is Christ that lives in me.’ This is a high and very noble ambition, this identification with Christ, this holiness. But there is no other way if we are to be consistent with the divine life God has sown in our souls in baptism. To advance we must progress in holiness. Shying away from holiness implies refusing our Christian life its natural growth. The fire of God's love needs to be fed. It must grow each day, gathering strength in our soul; and a fire is maintained by burning more things. If we don't feed it, it may die."
This is your journey; this is the role you must play. This is Christian life.
Video: