Considerations on the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ - 16

I. The Cross began to torture Jesus Christ before He was nailed upon it; for after He was condemned by Pilate, the Cross on which He was to die was given Him to carry to Calvary, and, without refusing, He took it upon His shoulders. Speaking of this, St. Augustine writes: "If we regard the wickedness of His tormentors, the insult was great; if we regard the love of Jesus, the mystery is great; for in carrying the Cross, our Captain then lifted up the Standard under which His followers upon this earth must be enrolled and fight, in order to be made His companions in the kingdom of Heaven."

St. Basil, speaking of the passage in Isaias: A child is born to us, and a son is given to us, and the government is upon his shoulder (Is. ix. 6), says that "earthly tyrants load their subjects with unjust burdens, in order to increase their own power; but Jesus Christ chose to take upon Himself the burden of the Cross, and to carry it, in order that, leaving life to us therein, He might obtain salvation for us." He further remarks that the kings of the earth founded their sovereignties on force of arms and in the heaping up of riches; but Jesus Christ founded His sovereignty in the insults of the Cross — that is, in humbling Himself and in suffering, — and on this account He willingly accepted it, and carried it on that painful journey, in order, by His example, to give us courage to embrace with resignation every cross, and thus to follow Him. Wherefore, also, He said to His disciples: If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me (Matt. xvi. 24).

II. Let us here meditate upon the beautiful expressions applied to the Cross by St. John Chrysostom:

He calls it the hope of the despairing; for what hope of salvation would sinners have were it not for the Cross on which Jesus Christ died to save them?

The guide of the voyager; for the humiliation of the Cross (that is, of tribulation) is the cause which, in the dangerous ocean of this life, gives us grace to keep the Divine law, and to correct ourselves after our transgressions, as the Psalmist says: It is good for me that thou hast humbled me, that I might learn thy justifications (Ps. cxviii. 71).

The Cross is the counsellor of the just; because in adversities the just learn wisdom, and gain motives for uniting themselves more closely to God.

The Cross is the rest of the troubled; for where can the troubled find relief but in beholding that Cross on which their Redeemer and God died of pain for love of them?

The Cross is the exultation of the Martyrs; because in this consists the glory of the holy Martyrs, that they were able to unite their deaths to the pains and death Jesus Christ suffered on the Cross; as St. Paul says: God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ (Gal. vi. 14).

The Cross is the physician of the sick; and great indeed is the remedy of the Cross to those who are sick in spirit; tribulations make them repent, and detach them from the world.

The Cross is the fount for the thirsty; for the Cross, that is, suffering for Jesus Christ, was the desire of the Saints, as St. Teresa was wont to say: "Oh that I might suffer! Or that I might die!" and as St. Mary Magdalen of Pazzi said, "May I suffer, and not die!" meaning that she would refuse to die in order that she might continue to suffer upon this earth, rather than go to rejoice in Heaven.

Finally, to speak of all alike, both the just and sinners, every one has his own cross. The just, though they enjoy peace of conscience, yet all have their vicissitudes; at one time they are comforted by visits of Divine mercy, at another they are afflicted by bodily vexations and infirmities, and especially by desolation of spirit, by darkness and weariness, by scruples and temptations, and by fears for their salvation. Much heavier are the crosses of sinners, through remorse of conscience, through the terrors of eternal punishment, which from time to time affright them, and through the pains they suffer when things go wrong with them. The Saints, when adversities befall them, unite themselves with the Divine will, and suffer with patience; but how can the sinner calm himself by the remembrance of the Divine will when he is living at enmity with God? The pains of the enemies of God are unmixed pains, pains without relief. Wherefore St. Teresa was wont to say that "he who loves God embraces the cross, and thus does not feel it, while he who does not love God drags the cross and thus cannot but feel it."

(First Friday of August)