Certainly there are many mountains higher than Calvary; this poor bare hill is only a little mound outside the walls of Jerusalem, a mere nothing compared with Mont Blanc, the Andes or the Himalayas.
It is not a matter of geographical altitude but of moral and spiritual greatness.
Has not our Lord recommended the cross to every Christian soul who wishes to follow a secure road to heaven? If anyone will come after Me, let him take up his cross and follow Me. I am a religious vowed not only to follow the Master from afar, but to walk in His very footsteps up the bloody road which leads to triumph. How much can Jesus rightfully expect of me?
Take courage. On certain days, assuredly, it is hard. Failures, dryness, age, illness, misunderstandings, the Rule which sometimes weighs upon me, characters uncongenial to me, how many opportunities there are! Not one of them is negligible!
I ought to be so convinced of the value of these little sacrifices that I should thirst for them. I should consider as lost the day on which I suffer nothing for Christ.
Nevertheless, I seek so often to escape the cross, not from bad will but from weakness, instinctive fear and lack of faith.
"Grant, O crucified Master, that I may not falter too long before the cross. Strengthen me to embrace the cross, for on the cross I shall find You."_________________
Adapted from Meditations for Religious
by Father Raoul Plus, S.J. (© 1939, Frederick Pustet Co.)
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