Aug 18 Fri
Our Christian vocation leads us to love the Cross. “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” “We are making our way along a divine path, and we must follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ, carrying our own cross, the Holy Cross! God our Lord expects us to be generous in our efforts, and to consider ourselves most fortunate to be able to sacrifice ourselves to make God’s Work come to blossom.”
This is “the way that always leads to victory, but – just as surely– it passes through sacrifice…We should love Christ on the Cross serenely. And we should carry him to our world so that there will be many friends of the Cross.”
It is unusual for anyone to be given the grace of martyrdom. But we all can be martyrs by the love we put into the little things of every day. We are identified with Christ in the fulfillment of our daily duty, in the difficulties, in a mortification offered to God, and we help him in making the Cross triumph amidst all human activities: we become co-redeemers, icons of Christ. We find him in the people around us who need our help.
“Do everything for the love of God and embrace your daily cross joyfully. This is something I have repeated thousands of times because I believe that these ideas should be engraved on every Christian heart. When we advance beyond the stage of simply tolerating difficulties or sufferings (whether physical or moral) and, instead, love them and offer them to God in reparation for our sins and the sins of all mankind, then, I assure you, they do not distress us any longer.”
“It is no longer just any cross we are carrying. We discover that it is the Cross of Christ, and with it, the consolation of knowing that our Redeemer has taken it upon himself to bear its weight. We cooperate as Simon of Cyrene did, who, when he was returning from work on his farm, intending to take a well-earned rest, was forced to lend his shoulders to help Jesus.”
For a soul in love, it is no misfortune to become Simon of Cyrene for Christ and, in this way, to give close company to Jesus, reduced to a state of rags and tatters. For if we do this, we can be certain of our closeness to God, who blesses us by choosing us for this task: that of accompanying him.
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