Everything
in the life of our Lord was done either to manifest His Divinity or His Saving
Plan for humanity. Consequently so much of what He did was done as an example
for us. He prayed to teach us how to pray, and He suffered, not only for our
salvation, but also to show us how we must embrace our sufferings. Ultimately,
however, the only way we can truly embrace our sufferings is to embrace our
Lord.
There is a
catch to embracing our Lord though, and it is that we must embrace our cross.
To be a disciple of Jesus requires one to take up one’s cross daily (Luke
9:23). This brings us to an important meditation for today, however, and that
is “How do we embrace our cross?”
Does
embracing the cross mean a simple resignation to all of the afflictions and
ailments that may befall us? Certainly not! That would be in direct
contradiction to the prayer of today’s Entrance Antiphon, wherein we pray for deliverance from these things. As we have already seen so often this week, and shall continue to see throughout the week, our Lord Himself prayed that He might be spared the pains of the Passion (Matthew 26:39). Nevertheless, He also prayed that the will of God be done (Matthew 26:39, 42, 44).
What then, does this mean for us? What must be our prayer in suffering? Our prayer must be that ultimately God preserve our inward soul. It is true that we may pray for deliverance from the evils of this world, such as sickness. Indeed, we even have a Sacrament, the Anointing of the Sick, which does this! But even in the Sacrament, the ultimate focus is not on our bodies, but on our souls.
The will of our foes, our real and eternal foes, is that we be lost to God forever. In his rejection of the Lord God, Satan punished himself to eternal misery in Hell, along with all of the other demons who fell. In their spite for God, even though they have no one to blame for their fall but themselves, they wish to attempt to hurt all of God's beloved, ultimately by getting them to also condemn themselves to eternal misery in Hell.
We may, then, in all of this see the true enemy of souls, and it is pride. Through pride Adam and Eve fell, and it is through the pride of man that all subsequent sins have come about. It is not coincidence that St. Thomas Aquinas labeled pride the chief vice and source of all others. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches, "Hatred of God comes from pride (2094)." Once one has been infected with pride, it becomes harder for God to enter the soul and heal it. We see this so often in the Parables and Teachings of Jesus. Let us look for a moment at the Parable of the Pharisee and Tax Collector. The Pharisee was not able to be justified, because in his pride he believed himself to be without sin (Luke 18:9-14).
This same sin extends to the Pharisees and Scribes in their relationship with Jesus Christ. They believed themselves to be free from sin due to their strict adherence to "the Law." The problem was, they had set up their own law, often in contradiction to the intent of the Law of Moses. This is always the way of pride, it will force a man to raise himself up to the place of God, and it will lead one to reject God.
Our prayer must, then, as Pope Francis said this past Palm Sunday, and as we noted, be for humility. This should be our prayer in suffering. As Pope Francis said, "There can be no humility without humiliation." We may pray to be delivered from the evils of this present age, but within this prayer, we submit ourselves to God, for in Him we trust! The will of our foes is that we become inflated with pride, as they are. They present false accusations to try and make us turn on God. The violence they breath is to disquiet our souls. Nonetheless, if we are truly humble of heart, we shall cry with the Psalmist and in union with our Lord in His Passion, "Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of my life (Psalm 54:4)."
What then, does this mean for us? What must be our prayer in suffering? Our prayer must be that ultimately God preserve our inward soul. It is true that we may pray for deliverance from the evils of this world, such as sickness. Indeed, we even have a Sacrament, the Anointing of the Sick, which does this! But even in the Sacrament, the ultimate focus is not on our bodies, but on our souls.
The will of our foes, our real and eternal foes, is that we be lost to God forever. In his rejection of the Lord God, Satan punished himself to eternal misery in Hell, along with all of the other demons who fell. In their spite for God, even though they have no one to blame for their fall but themselves, they wish to attempt to hurt all of God's beloved, ultimately by getting them to also condemn themselves to eternal misery in Hell.
We may, then, in all of this see the true enemy of souls, and it is pride. Through pride Adam and Eve fell, and it is through the pride of man that all subsequent sins have come about. It is not coincidence that St. Thomas Aquinas labeled pride the chief vice and source of all others. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches, "Hatred of God comes from pride (2094)." Once one has been infected with pride, it becomes harder for God to enter the soul and heal it. We see this so often in the Parables and Teachings of Jesus. Let us look for a moment at the Parable of the Pharisee and Tax Collector. The Pharisee was not able to be justified, because in his pride he believed himself to be without sin (Luke 18:9-14).
This same sin extends to the Pharisees and Scribes in their relationship with Jesus Christ. They believed themselves to be free from sin due to their strict adherence to "the Law." The problem was, they had set up their own law, often in contradiction to the intent of the Law of Moses. This is always the way of pride, it will force a man to raise himself up to the place of God, and it will lead one to reject God.
Our prayer must, then, as Pope Francis said this past Palm Sunday, and as we noted, be for humility. This should be our prayer in suffering. As Pope Francis said, "There can be no humility without humiliation." We may pray to be delivered from the evils of this present age, but within this prayer, we submit ourselves to God, for in Him we trust! The will of our foes is that we become inflated with pride, as they are. They present false accusations to try and make us turn on God. The violence they breath is to disquiet our souls. Nonetheless, if we are truly humble of heart, we shall cry with the Psalmist and in union with our Lord in His Passion, "Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of my life (Psalm 54:4)."
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