Everything

Who am I to question the cross I have received.  The Son of Man HIMSELF did not question His…

Christ Carrying the Cross Between Saints Augustine and Jerome (Parentino)

I have been thinking about the calling to be a Christian.

It is not an easy calling.  Nowhere I the Gospels – or indeed in the Bible – does God say, come and follow me it will be a walk in the park.  Instead, He clearly says, come and follow me, it will be hard and difficult.  You will carry a cross, you will suffer.  But I will come with you to help you in that suffering – you will not be alone.

And I have been reflecting on what my response is to God when He calls me to do His Holy Will…

You see, I am not supposed to say to God, Yes God, I will do as you ask, but only this portion of it.  I am not really interested in that additional suffering, so I shall accept this small amount of suffering because it suits my temperament very well, but that extra bit – well, that is simply too difficult for me to bear and I would rather that you did not try me in that way for that…

Saint Josemaria suggests that we contemplate the passion and death of Our Lord as a way of reflecting on the sacrifices that we should be asked to make in our own lives.  Importantly, he suggests contemplating the wounds of Christ as a way to focus our minds on things that are more important than we are, so that we can meditate on the example of faith that Christ set for us all.

“Let us not think that because we are on this road of contemplation our passions will have calmed down once and for all. We would be mistaken if we thought that our longing to seek Christ, and the fact that we are meeting him and getting to know him and enjoy the sweetness of his love, makes us incapable of sinning. Though your own experience will tell you, let me nevertheless remind you of this truth. Satan, God’s enemy and man’s, does not give up nor does he rest. He maintains his siege, even when the soul is ardently in love with God. The devil knows that it’s more difficult for the soul to fall then, but he also knows that, if he can manage to get it to offend its Lord even in something small, he will be able to cast over its conscience the serious temptation of despair.”  (Saint Josemaria, “Friends of God”, at 301-303).

And I have been reflecting on that today.  For it seems to me that I have spent a lifetime choosing not to accept the entire Will of God.  I will accept this sacrifice, but that one is too much.  It is okay to have this pain, but that pain is fearful.  This is a problem that I can bear but that problem is beyond me.

And when I stop and think about it today, it seems to me that the whole thing is absurd.  After all, who am I to question the cross I have received.  The Son of Man HIMSELF did not question His…

For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.