Presence of God – O Jesus, I place myself at the foot of the Cross, help me to understand how necessary it is to suffer in order to resemble You.
MEDITATION
For the soul who aspires to union with God, penance is not only a means of subjecting the flesh to the spirit, but also a means of being assimilated to Christ Crucified, in order to reproduce and prolong His Passion in its own body. “Love makes equality and similitude” (John of the Cross Ascent
of Mount Carmel I: 4,4): he who truly loves has a spontaneous desire to share in the sufferings of the loved one; it is the same with real lovers of the Crucified. St. Mary Magdalen dei Pazzi exclaims, “It is not fitting to be a delicate member of a Head crowned with thorns and crucified, nor the unmortified bride of a suffering Spouse.” It is an honor for a wife to be able to share in the entire life of her spouse. For a soul consecrated to God, it is an honor to be able to share, even in a small way, in the Passion of Christ; such a soul glories in it. “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world” (Galatians 6:14).
Although mortification of the spirit is certainly more important than that of the body, we must not forget that, in order to save the world, Jesus was willing to embrace both in the most complete manner. His whole life was a cross and a martyrdom; it ended with the sacrifice of Calvary, where His spiritual and physical immolation reached its height. As for the mortification of the senses, “It is certain,” says St. John of the Cross, “that He died as to sense, spiritually, during His life, besides dying naturally, at His death. For … in life He had not where to lay His head, and at His death, this was even truer…. Wherefore, as it seems to me, any spirituality that would fain walk in sweetness and with ease, and flees from the imitation of Christ, is worthless” (Ascent of Mount Carmel II: 7,10.8).
COLLOQUY
“O much desired Passion! Who desires you, loves you and is glorified in you? O eternal Truth, You tell me that Your Passion is neither desired nor loved by anyone who loves himself, but only by one who has stripped himself of self and clothed himself with You, O Crucified Christ; by means of Your light he sees in the Cross the greatness of Your charity. O gentle, quiet Passion, which in the calmness of peace allows the soul to traverse the waves of the angry sea! O delectable, sweet Passion! O wealth of the soul, true joy, our glory and our beatitude; the soul which is glorified in you acquires your fruit. O Word, the soul which takes shelter in Your Passion is dead to sensuality and tastes the sweetness of Your charity.
“O my God, my Love, permit me one question: When the world was languishing in sickness, You sent Your only Son to be its physician … and now what means will You use to revive again this world which lies once more in death? I see that You give the name of Christ to Your servants and that by means of them You want to take away death and give back life to the world. And in what way? They must walk bravely in the footprints of the Word and work for Your honor and the salvation of souls with love and burning desire; to this end they should bear patiently all pains, anxieties, reproaches, and disgrace. O wonderful Restorer, give us many ‘Christs’ who will spend their lives in vigils, tears, and prayers for the salvation of the world” (St. Catherine of Siena).
O Lord, You know the profound desire of my heart: to assimilate and unite myself to You in order to live Your life alone. If sublime states of prayer and flights of the spirit are not for me, the Cross is my share. You offer it to me, and I embrace it with all my heart. I know that what is easily within my reach, what I encounter every day, what is most suitable and proportioned to my misery, is suffering, for no human life is without sorrow. Lord, grant that in every suffering, physical as well as moral, I may recognize and embrace Your Cross, so that I may be intimately associated with Your Passion, for the salvation of souls. Now that You are glorified at the right hand of the Father, You can no longer suffer. Deign, then, to suffer in me and to use my poor humanity to continue Your work of redemption.
Note from Dan: This post “With Jesus Crucified” is provided courtesy of Baronius Press and contains one of two meditations for the day. If you would like to get the full meditation from one of the best daily meditation works ever compiled, you can learn more here: Divine Intimacy. Please honor those who support us by purchasing and promoting their products.
Art for this post “With Jesus Crucified”: St. John of the Cross, Francisco de Zurbarán, 1656, PD-US author’s life plus 100 years or less, Wikimedia Commons. Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, mirror from open source material.
This article appears here courtesy of our friends at SpiritualDirection.com.
Tagged as: Ascent of Mount Carmel, ash wednesday, Carmelite spirituality, Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, meditations, Mortification, Self-denial, st john of the cross, St. Catherine of Siena, suffering
Dan is the founder of Catholic Spiritual Direction, the Avila Institute for Spiritual Formation, and Divine Intimacy Radio, author of the award winning book, Navigating the Interior Life - Spiritual Direction and the Journey to God, and his newest books Finding God Through Meditation-St. Peter of Alcantara and 30 Days with Teresa of Avila. Beyond his "contagious" love for Jesus and His Church, he is a grateful husband and father of four, the Executive Director of and writer for EWTN's National Catholic Register, a regular co-host on Register Radio, a writer and speaker who provides online spiritual formation and travels to share his conversion story and the great riches that the Church provides us through authentic Catholic spirituality. Dan has been featured on EWTN's Journey Home program and numerous radio programs.