One of the most practical fruits of these meditations on the Passion must be to make us love our daily cross. When we see what Christ has suffered for our sake, there naturally springs up in all noble souls a desire to suffer with Him and for Him: we readily profess with St Paul a sincere longing "to be nailed with Christ to the Cross". But often perhaps this remains only a vague aspiration, or a readiness to bear generously any future great tribulation that may come our way. We fail to draw the logical and more practical conclusion to embrace joyfully the ordinary crosses that mark our everyday life. Yet, how wise and salutary this would be - for our peace and happiness - for our growth in perfection - for the fruitfulness of our ministry.
OUR PEACE AND HAPPINESS
Suffering, under some form or other, is so rife in our daily life that we cannot for long preserve our peace of mind and joy of heart, unless we bring ourselves to love the cross and are prepared to welcome it whole-heartedly at every turn of the road. It comes to us from any quarter, at any time, in body and soul: we may find ourselves handicapped by ill health, overburdened with work, a prey to worries and anxieties, discouraged by failure or lack of appreciation and support, disgusted with so much meanness and evil witnessed around us, perhaps also by our own weakness under temptation and want of fervor or lack of all consolation. . .
Some men accustom themselves to face trouble calmly by adopting an attitude of stoic indifference, which is unworthy of a Christian. Others resign themselves to the inevitable, and accept the will of God patiently enough though hardly with joy. Far greater peace and happiness will come to us if we embrace whole-heartedly our daily crosses, looking upon each of them - great or small - as a dispensation of the loving Providence of our heavenly Father, as an abundant source of merits, as a sure way to imitate and unite ourselves to Christ who, "having joy set before Him, endured the cross".
* Are these thoughts of faith prominent in my habitual outlook on life's daily crosses?
How do I behave in trying circumstances? Giving to bystanders the example of cheerful (and cheering) patience, or shocking them by my fretfulness?
Let me school myself to look at all my troubles in the transfiguring light of Jesus' Cross: that way lies the realization of the Apostle's lofty feelings: "Superabundo gaudio in omni tribulatione . . . ".
OUR GROWTH IN PERFECTION
A great help for reconciling ourselves to the frequent tribulations of life, is to remember that no one can hope to make great progress towards perfection unless he travels by "the royal road of the Cross". Read and meditate on the emphatic teaching of The Imitation of Christ in the 12th Chapter of the 2nd Book. It is but a logical inference of the solemn warning of the Master: "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily" (Luke 9:23 ).
We can progress in the love of God only in the degree in which we are purified from our own self-love: and nothing helps more to this purification than crosses and trials borne with a true spirit of faith. They detach us from self and from creatures, disencumbering our soul from its many obstacles to the working of divine grace. . .Therefore the more earnest we are in our desire for perfection, the greater must be our readiness to welcome suffering and adversity in all its forms, knowing well that they are permitted by God - indeed often sent directly by Him - for our greater good: "Omnem (palmitem) qui fert fructum purgabit eum, ut fructum plus afferat."
* Am I seeing in every cross that comes my way a stepping-stone to holiness of life?
And so, do I esteem and prize them as I do holiness itself?
Why then be so reluctant to face them, so anxious to shake them off?
If I would grow in Jesus' love, I must conquer my natural repugnance to suffering, the price of love.
Shall I not make my own the courageous prayer of a generous lover of Christ (Fr W. Doyle): "Jesus, make me a saint, and don't spare me in the making"?
FRUITFULNESS OF OUR MINISTRY
Another powerful reason to make us love our daily crosses is their great value for our apostolic ministry. Christ has redeemed the world by dying on the Cross: ever since, those who share with Him the work of saving souls are destined to share also His Cross... To all apostolic souls, His "vessels of election" , Our Lord will show "how great things they must suffer for His name's sake" ... We too, then, must surrender ourselves gladly, like St Paul, to that vocation of daily sacrifice and immolation.
Remember the example of the two great Patrons of the Missions, St Francis Xavier and the Little Flower. "As Our Lord (wrote the latter) had made me understand that it was by the cross that He would give me souls, the more crosses I met with, the stronger grew my attraction for suffering." . . .
Jesus lives in His priest, to continue His apostolic life on earth, His ministry of preaching and of kindness, but also His suffering and perhaps His crucifixion. Hence the priest takes his little crosses in his stride, as part of his vocation; thus he is ready for the big cross if Christ asks him to carry one. "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless the grain of wheat fall into the ground and die, itself remains alone..." (John 12:24). "I make up in my flesh what is lacking to the sufferings of Christ, on behalf of his body, which is the Church" (Co1. 1, 24 ).
* Would my daily troubles not look very different to me, if I kept in mind their apostolic value?
And could I not lighten and brighten up also the life of many a poor sufferer in my flock, by showing them how they can turn the hard metal of their sufferings into pure gold?
Let me try to grow in that apostolic love of suffering, every morning, when at the altar I commune with the Divine Victim.
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Adapted from Alter Christus, Meditations for Priests by F.X. L'Hoir, S.J. (1958)
Meditation 40.
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Please pray for our priests and pray for vocations to the priesthood.
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