The 'Ordo Amoris' and Holy Week

The hierarchical principle of “ordo amoris,” or “the order of love” is a concept that describes how our love of things should be ordered so that we are able to direct all of our love toward its proper end, which is God. This principle is based on the thought of Sts. Augustine and Thomas Aquinas and lays out how we are to properly order our loves: first, love of God, then of oneself, others, and then material possessions.

As we journey through Holy Week, we are given examples of the ordo and how it is used properly, as well as abused. On Holy Monday, we read the account of Mary anointing the feet of Jesus using a liter of costly ointment. Judas Iscariot, who would betray Him, asked why it was not sold for three hundred days’ wages and given to the poor. We are told that he didn’t really care about the poor, but that he was a thief and held the money bag and would steal contributions. Jesus tells him to leave her alone and let her have the oil for His burial. “You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me” (John 12:1-8). For their time, He was talking about the poor always being there but that the time for His physical presence with His disciples was limited, so they needed to make the most of it and prioritize Him. Mary was doing that and giving Him the adoration and worship He deserved. She was properly employing the ordo amoris and putting her love for God before her love for others. In our time, “you do not always have Me” can be taken to mean that we do not have unlimited time on Earth to love God and show Him our love and adoration. Unfortunately, there will always be poor people in the world and likewise, there will always be those who come behind us who will have the obligation and opportunity to help support them. This does not mean that we don’t have the obligation to help as much as we can, but that when we are faced with the choice, we must put love and worship of God before all else.

On Holy Tuesday and particularly Spy Wednesday, we are told how Judas abused the ordo and put his love of money and power before God. He asks the chief priests what they are willing to give him if he hands Jesus over to them, and they pay him thirty pieces of silver. He is only thinking of what he can get for betraying Jesus, without thinking of the implications or consequences of his actions. His greed has so blinded him that he completely inverts the ordo and puts love of material things at the top and the love of God and even others at the bottom.

As we begin to celebrate the Sacred Triduum and accompany our Lord during His Passion and Death, we should reflect on these two different people and who we most identify with. Asking ourselves how we employ the ordo amoris and what we can adjust in our lives so that we are more focused on the love of God in every situation will help us be more attentive to Jesus in His suffering, which will guide us to want to suffer more for Him in order to learn how to love Him more.

Lastly, since we’re on the subject of the ordo amoris, I’d like to address the comments made by U.S. Vice President JD Vance a couple of months ago. He was correct in his analysis and what he said was a common sense, prudent observation. We must take care of our own families and those nearest to us before we begin to focus on those outside of our own country. He was not saying that we shouldn’t love our neighbor or that those outside of our country are not our neighbors, but just that practically speaking, we have obligations to provide for those closest to us, especially our families, before we begin to focus on those farther away.