WE should understand this point well. We should not just
be willing to go through some suffering and pain because they are
unavoidable in life. Neither should it be because we like something or
love someone for whom we are willing to suffer certain inconveniences
and sacrifices.
We have to understand that we need to make sacrifices
simply because, whether they are unavoidable or not, or whether we
offer them for someone or something or not, they are an essential and
integral part of our Christian life.
Christ himself commanded us so. “If any man will come
after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”
(Mt 16,24) These clear words of Christ do not limit our need for
sacrifices to the facts that suffering and pain are inescapable in
life, or that we are willing to suffer for something or someone we
love.
Our need for sacrifice is first of all based on the fact
that Christ commands it. We should not wait for suffering and pain to
come before we make sacrifices. Neither should we wait to be moved to
suffer for something or for someone we love before we make sacrifices.
We make sacrifices simply because Christ said so, and he
said so because it is necessary for us. More than expiating for our
sins, the sacrifices are a clear expression of a total self-giving
which is the essence of love.
Sacrifices, as iconized by the Cross of Christ, are what
distinguish a Christian. The cross is the sign of the Christian
because it is the center of the saving life and action of Christ. It
shows how much Christ obeys his Father out of love, and how much he
loves us.
We have to learn to sanctify our sacrifices by uniting
them with the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. That is how we make
our sufferings and pain divine and with redemptive value.
It is by uniting our sacrifices with that of Christ that
we can find the meaning and value of suffering and pain in this life.
As a Church document puts it: “Through Christ and in Christ, the
riddles of sorrow and death grow meaningful. Apart from His Gospel,
they overwhelm us.” (Gaudium et spes, 22)
We should not doubt that the cross has a tremendous saving
power. We have to learn to love it and therefore to look for it and to
carry it, as Christ himself commanded us. We should not just tolerate
it.
This, of course, will require a certain discipline. As the
Catechism would put it: “The way of perfection passes by way of the
Cross. There is no holiness without renunciation and spiritual battle.
Spiritual progress entails the asceticism and mortification that
gradually lead to living in the peace and joy of the Beatitudes.” (CCC
2015)
The love for the cross will certainly require the need of
faith which God actually gives us in abundance. It is also what would
occasion the growth and the strengthening of our faith. We actually
cannot grow in our faith unless we are driven by the love of the
cross.
It is through love for the cross that we become more and
more like Christ, after whom we have been patterned and by whom we are
redeemed and reconciled with our Father God. It is what would make us
the perfect image of Christ.
We should actively grow in our love for the cross by
developing a spirit of mortification and penance. In a manner of
speaking, we need to die in order to live a life of holiness, a
supernatural life of love of God.
St. Paul expresses this point this way: “If you live
according the flesh you will die. But if by the spirit, you put to
death the deeds of the flesh, and you will live.” (Rom 8,13)
Thus, we need to die a bit each day by self-denial, mortification and
penance. We need to control our disordered inclinations and passions.
be willing to go through some suffering and pain because they are
unavoidable in life. Neither should it be because we like something or
love someone for whom we are willing to suffer certain inconveniences
and sacrifices.
We have to understand that we need to make sacrifices
simply because, whether they are unavoidable or not, or whether we
offer them for someone or something or not, they are an essential and
integral part of our Christian life.
Christ himself commanded us so. “If any man will come
after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”
(Mt 16,24) These clear words of Christ do not limit our need for
sacrifices to the facts that suffering and pain are inescapable in
life, or that we are willing to suffer for something or someone we
love.
Our need for sacrifice is first of all based on the fact
that Christ commands it. We should not wait for suffering and pain to
come before we make sacrifices. Neither should we wait to be moved to
suffer for something or for someone we love before we make sacrifices.
We make sacrifices simply because Christ said so, and he
said so because it is necessary for us. More than expiating for our
sins, the sacrifices are a clear expression of a total self-giving
which is the essence of love.
Sacrifices, as iconized by the Cross of Christ, are what
distinguish a Christian. The cross is the sign of the Christian
because it is the center of the saving life and action of Christ. It
shows how much Christ obeys his Father out of love, and how much he
loves us.
We have to learn to sanctify our sacrifices by uniting
them with the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. That is how we make
our sufferings and pain divine and with redemptive value.
It is by uniting our sacrifices with that of Christ that
we can find the meaning and value of suffering and pain in this life.
As a Church document puts it: “Through Christ and in Christ, the
riddles of sorrow and death grow meaningful. Apart from His Gospel,
they overwhelm us.” (Gaudium et spes, 22)
We should not doubt that the cross has a tremendous saving
power. We have to learn to love it and therefore to look for it and to
carry it, as Christ himself commanded us. We should not just tolerate
it.
This, of course, will require a certain discipline. As the
Catechism would put it: “The way of perfection passes by way of the
Cross. There is no holiness without renunciation and spiritual battle.
Spiritual progress entails the asceticism and mortification that
gradually lead to living in the peace and joy of the Beatitudes.” (CCC
2015)
The love for the cross will certainly require the need of
faith which God actually gives us in abundance. It is also what would
occasion the growth and the strengthening of our faith. We actually
cannot grow in our faith unless we are driven by the love of the
cross.
It is through love for the cross that we become more and
more like Christ, after whom we have been patterned and by whom we are
redeemed and reconciled with our Father God. It is what would make us
the perfect image of Christ.
We should actively grow in our love for the cross by
developing a spirit of mortification and penance. In a manner of
speaking, we need to die in order to live a life of holiness, a
supernatural life of love of God.
St. Paul expresses this point this way: “If you live
according the flesh you will die. But if by the spirit, you put to
death the deeds of the flesh, and you will live.” (Rom 8,13)
Thus, we need to die a bit each day by self-denial, mortification and
penance. We need to control our disordered inclinations and passions.
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