As we celebrate the 50^th year of the “Man-for-Others” speech by Father Pedro Arrupe, SJ to the alumni of the Jesuit schools in Europe, reminding us of living our Faith life with the spirit of justice and compassion to the poor, we cannot help but remember what the Lord said to His disciples: “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends (John 15:13)”.  

We are very much inspired by the bravery and self-sacrifice of ordinary people at the time when their love for humanity has made them to choose the crown of martyrdom. Though the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel does not directly hit us, the horrific news about it, the personal stories of the survivors, and the visuals have certainly and deeply touched our hearts.  

Angelyn Aguirre, 32, a Filipina nurse, was caring for an elderly Israeli woman, Nira, inside a bomb shelter when Hamas terrorists arrived in their house in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, and murdered both of them in cold blood. Angelyn could have abandoned Nira and run for her life. But she didn’t. She opted to stay. Her love for Nira overcame her own fear of death.      

Jessica Etler’s boyfriend, Ben, was at the Super Nova festival when the Hamas militants arrived in the scene. Ben had a car. He could have escaped on his own. But he did not. He drove his car and brought in strangers and accompanied them to their houses hours away from where the party took place. He did this a few times when at one last time he could no longer escape the bullets of the terrorists and got killed himself.

Alex, a Canadian Jew, was vacationing in Israel during the Hamas attack. He together with around thirty people hid in a shelter when some militants arrived. At that moment, he decided to go out of the shelter, became a “human gatekeeper,” was shot and killed and thereby saving many lives.  

Nothing can inspire us more than when we hear true stories of ordinary people making the ultimate sacrifice of their lives. Their stories make us reflect on our own: “What have I done for Christ? What am I doing for Christ? What will I do for Christ?” asks St. Ignatius of Loyola in his Spiritual Exercises. 

Pope Francis has called us to pray for PEACE – Peace in our hearts, Peace in our homes, Peace in our communities, Peace in our society, Peace in the world. May the Peace of Christ reign in us and with us this Christmas. May the Birth of the Lord also inspire us to make sacrifices, and live meaningful and purposeful lives as PERSONS-FOR-OTHERS. 

God bless us all.