Quo vadis, DomineReflection #12
How Much It Pleases Jesus Christ
that We Suffer for the Love of Him
How Much It Pleases Jesus Christ
that We Suffer for the Love of Him
"If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me." (Luke 9:23). It will be useful here to make some reflections on these words of Jesus Christ. He says: "If any man will come after Me." He does not say: "to Me," but after Me." Our Lord desires that we should come after Him; we must therefore walk on the same road of thorns and sufferings in which He walked. He goes before, and does not stop until He reaches Calvary, where He dies. Therefore, if we love Him, we must follow Him, even till death. And thus it is necessary that every one of us should deny himself; that is, he should deprive himself of everything which self-love demands, but is not pleasing to Jesus Christ.
Our Lord says further: "Let him . . . take up his cross daily, and follow Me." (Luke 9:23). Let us consider these last words, one by one. "Let him take up;" it avails little to carry the cross by compulsion; all sinners bear it, but without merit; to bear it with merit, we must embrace it willingly. "His cross"--under the word is implied every kind of tribulation, which is called a "cross" by Jesus Christ, in order that this name may render it sweet, from the thought that He died on a cross for love of us.
He says, moreover, "his cross." Some persons, when they receive some spiritual consolation, offer themselves to suffer as much as was endured by the martyrs--racks, nails and red-hot iron plates; but then they cannot endure a headache, the neglect of a friend, the ill temper of a relation. My brother, my sister, God does not ask you to endure racks, nor hot irons, nor piercing nails; but He desires that you should suffer patiently this pain, this contempt, this annoyance. A certain nun would willingly go to suffer in a desert; she would perform great acts of penance; but yet she cannot endure such a one for her superior, or such a one for her companion in her office; but God desires that she should bear that cross which He gives her to suffer, and not that which she would herself choose.
He says "daily." Some persons embrace the cross at first when it comes; but when it lasts long, they say, "Now I can bear it no more." Yet God wills that you should go on enduring it with patience, even if you should have to bear it continually till death. Behold, then, wherein salvation and perfection consist. It is in these few words: "Deny yourself." We must deny our self-love in whatever is wrong. "Take up thy cross," that is, we must embrace the cross which God sends us. "And follow Me": we must follow the footsteps of Jesus Christ, even till death.
We must be persuaded that for this end God keeps us in the world, that we may bear the crosses He sends us, and in this consists the merit of our life. Therefore, our Savior, because He loves us, came into this world not for enjoyment, but to suffer, in order that we might follow in His steps. "For unto this you are called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving you an example, that you should follow His steps." (I Peter 2:21). Let us look at Him, as He goes before with His cross, to trace for us the road by which we must follow Him if we would be saved. Oh what a remedy it is for every trouble that befalls us to say to Jesus Christ: "Lord, is it Thy will that I should endure this cross? I accept it, and will endure it as long as it pleases Thee!"
Many persons are delighted to hear others speak of prayer, of peace, of love for Jesus Christ; but they find little pleasure in hearing anyone speak of crosses and of sufferings. Such persons love Him only so long as they enjoy spiritual sweetness, but if this ceases and there comes some adversity or desolation, in which God hides Himself in order to try them, and deprives them of their accustomed consolations, they leave off prayer, Communions and mortifications and abandon themselves to sadness and lukewarmness and seek comfort in worldly amusements. But these souls love themselves more than Jesus Christ; on the contrary, they who do not love Him with an interested love for the sake of consolations, but with a pure love, and solely because He is worthy of love, do not leave their usual devout exercises for any dryness or weariness which they experience, being content with pleasing God; and they offer themselves to suffer any desolation, even till death and through all eternity, if God should so will it. Jesus Christ, says St. Francis de Sales, is as worthy of love in desolation as in consolation. Souls enamored of God can find their comfort and sweetness in suffering, in recollecting that they suffer for His love, and they say: "How sweet it is, O my Lord, to those who love Thee to suffer for Thee! Oh, that I might die for the love of Thee, my Jesus, who hast died for me!" All this and still more is deserved from us by Jesus Christ, who chose a life of sufferings and a death of pain--without the slightest relief--for love of us, in order to teach us that, if we want to love Him, we must love Him as He loved us. Oh how dear to Jesus Christ is a soul which suffers and loves Him! O divine gift, gift above every other gift, to love in suffering and to suffer in loving!
O my Jesus, Thou alone hast been able to teach us these maxims of salvation, all contrary to the maxims of the world; and Thou alone canst give us strength to suffer crosses with patience and resignation. O Eternal Father, Thy Son has promised that whatever we ask Thee in His name, Thou wilt give it to us. Behold, we ask this of Thee; give us grace to endure with patience the pains of this life; hear us for the love of Jesus Christ. And Thou, O my Jesus, pardon me all the offences I have committed against Thee by not being willing to have patience in the trials Thou hast sent me. Give me Thy love, for that will give me strength to suffer all for love of Thee. Deprive me of everything, of every earthly good, of relations, friends, health of body, of every consolation; deprive me even of life, but not of Thy love. Give me Thyself, and I ask Thee no more.
O most holy Virgin, obtain for me love for Jesus Christ, constant, even till death.
[Excepted from 'Devout Reflections and Meditations' by St. Alphonsus Liguori] (Public domain)
Our Lord says further: "Let him . . . take up his cross daily, and follow Me." (Luke 9:23). Let us consider these last words, one by one. "Let him take up;" it avails little to carry the cross by compulsion; all sinners bear it, but without merit; to bear it with merit, we must embrace it willingly. "His cross"--under the word is implied every kind of tribulation, which is called a "cross" by Jesus Christ, in order that this name may render it sweet, from the thought that He died on a cross for love of us.
He says, moreover, "his cross." Some persons, when they receive some spiritual consolation, offer themselves to suffer as much as was endured by the martyrs--racks, nails and red-hot iron plates; but then they cannot endure a headache, the neglect of a friend, the ill temper of a relation. My brother, my sister, God does not ask you to endure racks, nor hot irons, nor piercing nails; but He desires that you should suffer patiently this pain, this contempt, this annoyance. A certain nun would willingly go to suffer in a desert; she would perform great acts of penance; but yet she cannot endure such a one for her superior, or such a one for her companion in her office; but God desires that she should bear that cross which He gives her to suffer, and not that which she would herself choose.
He says "daily." Some persons embrace the cross at first when it comes; but when it lasts long, they say, "Now I can bear it no more." Yet God wills that you should go on enduring it with patience, even if you should have to bear it continually till death. Behold, then, wherein salvation and perfection consist. It is in these few words: "Deny yourself." We must deny our self-love in whatever is wrong. "Take up thy cross," that is, we must embrace the cross which God sends us. "And follow Me": we must follow the footsteps of Jesus Christ, even till death.
We must be persuaded that for this end God keeps us in the world, that we may bear the crosses He sends us, and in this consists the merit of our life. Therefore, our Savior, because He loves us, came into this world not for enjoyment, but to suffer, in order that we might follow in His steps. "For unto this you are called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving you an example, that you should follow His steps." (I Peter 2:21). Let us look at Him, as He goes before with His cross, to trace for us the road by which we must follow Him if we would be saved. Oh what a remedy it is for every trouble that befalls us to say to Jesus Christ: "Lord, is it Thy will that I should endure this cross? I accept it, and will endure it as long as it pleases Thee!"
Many persons are delighted to hear others speak of prayer, of peace, of love for Jesus Christ; but they find little pleasure in hearing anyone speak of crosses and of sufferings. Such persons love Him only so long as they enjoy spiritual sweetness, but if this ceases and there comes some adversity or desolation, in which God hides Himself in order to try them, and deprives them of their accustomed consolations, they leave off prayer, Communions and mortifications and abandon themselves to sadness and lukewarmness and seek comfort in worldly amusements. But these souls love themselves more than Jesus Christ; on the contrary, they who do not love Him with an interested love for the sake of consolations, but with a pure love, and solely because He is worthy of love, do not leave their usual devout exercises for any dryness or weariness which they experience, being content with pleasing God; and they offer themselves to suffer any desolation, even till death and through all eternity, if God should so will it. Jesus Christ, says St. Francis de Sales, is as worthy of love in desolation as in consolation. Souls enamored of God can find their comfort and sweetness in suffering, in recollecting that they suffer for His love, and they say: "How sweet it is, O my Lord, to those who love Thee to suffer for Thee! Oh, that I might die for the love of Thee, my Jesus, who hast died for me!" All this and still more is deserved from us by Jesus Christ, who chose a life of sufferings and a death of pain--without the slightest relief--for love of us, in order to teach us that, if we want to love Him, we must love Him as He loved us. Oh how dear to Jesus Christ is a soul which suffers and loves Him! O divine gift, gift above every other gift, to love in suffering and to suffer in loving!
O my Jesus, Thou alone hast been able to teach us these maxims of salvation, all contrary to the maxims of the world; and Thou alone canst give us strength to suffer crosses with patience and resignation. O Eternal Father, Thy Son has promised that whatever we ask Thee in His name, Thou wilt give it to us. Behold, we ask this of Thee; give us grace to endure with patience the pains of this life; hear us for the love of Jesus Christ. And Thou, O my Jesus, pardon me all the offences I have committed against Thee by not being willing to have patience in the trials Thou hast sent me. Give me Thy love, for that will give me strength to suffer all for love of Thee. Deprive me of everything, of every earthly good, of relations, friends, health of body, of every consolation; deprive me even of life, but not of Thy love. Give me Thyself, and I ask Thee no more.
O most holy Virgin, obtain for me love for Jesus Christ, constant, even till death.
[Excepted from 'Devout Reflections and Meditations' by St. Alphonsus Liguori] (Public domain)
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