Man for Others

(a short reflection on movie Life is Beautiful)

In the movie Life is Beautiful, Guido, through his jokes, his attractive attitude and laissez-faire bearing, shows how he understands life. The title of this movie implies that Guido really sees that life (at least his life) is beautiful, even when he is in a most difficult situation. Normally, people in a place like the camp concentration will feel very exhausted, sad, morose, or gloomy. This is what happens to the other people captured and placed in the camp concentration. But, unlike them, Guido tends to look always happy and pretends that nothing terrible happens for the sake of his son. He mirrors a person we called man for others for he doesn’t care about himself, but rather pays a lot of attention to his son.

Once, Ignatius as a General of the Society asked one Jesuit to give spiritual direction to some religious in Rome. This particular Jesuit refused to do so for he feared that by doing so he might endanger his vocation. Ignatius strongly admonished and reminded him not to think merely about himself but rather about those who need help. He mentioned the aim of the Society, which is, to save souls. This is what it means to be a man for others in Ignatius’ view. To be a man for others is to treat ourselves less importantly than others by surrendering ourselves into the hand of God and to put others in the highest priority. In the case of Guido, he forgets his tiredness, anxiety, and health in order to please his son and to free him from worrying about anything. He knows it will be very painful for his son to experience this discrimination and suffering. He wants his son to also experience that life is beautiful as he had experienced in his life.

As Jesuits, to be a man for others means to devote our life to loving, helping, and giving hope to others, especially those who are unloved, helpless, and hopeless. By doing so, we are supposed to be generous, that is, we are to give and not to count the cost, to fight and not to heed the wounds, to toil and not to seek for rest, to labor and ask not for reward. However, being a man for others doesn’t mean that one has to sacrifice himself by paying no attention to himself. A Jesuit has to nourish his life accordingly so that his vocation and his health are well kept. He has to make sure that by doing such kind of ministry he will not endanger his vocation and his health. Guido, when he chooses his wife and when he pours his joy to her and his son, doesn’t lose his joy because he knows that by doing so, he will be happy too. For him, happiness lasts longer if it also makes others happy.