374. Twenty-third Friday of Ordinary Time
Meditations no. 338 (unofficial computer-aided translation)
We need to subject the body to servitude.
I pommel my body and subdue it, St Paul says, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
Our whole being, including our body, is dedicated to Godâs service. But sometimes the flesh resists its instrumental role, and we need to subdue it to prevent outright rebellion. Formed of clay and wounded by original sin, the body tends towards a merely animal life: If you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live?
Baptism initiates us into the life of grace and incorporates us into the Church, but a downward tug still remains. Even though I dwell in Christâs body, St Augustine says, my sinful body remains. Subdue it, mortify it: this will be a pleasing sacrifice to God. We need to keep it under control, so that it is not a hindrance but a servant striving to serve the Lord. Our Father wrote: Tell your body: I prefer to keep you in slavery than be myself your slave. We have to treat it like an enemy who is at the same time our brother; we need to keep it in check, govern it through mortification and watch over its health so that it gives good service.
Christian life can never be reduced to an oppressive set of rules which leave the soul in a state of exasperation and tension. Rather, it accommodates itself to individual circumstances as a glove fits the hand, and it says that, as well as praying and sacrificing ourselves constantly, we should never lose our supernatural outlook as we go about our everyday tasks, be they big or small. Remember that God loves his creatures to distraction. How can a donkey work if it is not fed or given enough rest, or if its spirit is broken by too many beatings? Well, your body is like a little donkey, and it was a donkey that was Godâs chosen throne in Jerusalem, and it carries you along the divine pathways of this earth of ours. But it has to be controlled, so that it doesnât stray away from Godâs paths. And it has to be encouraged so that it can trot along with all the briskness and cheerfulness that you would expect from a poor beast of burden.
Mortifying our body to share in Christâs Cross.
Corporal mortification is a necessary means, not an end in itself: always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For while we live we are always being given up to death for Jesusâ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh. All who want to live for God need mortification. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
There comes to mind, our Father wrote, the dream of that author of the golden age of Spanish literature -I am sure some of you have heard me mention it in other meditations. The writer sees two roads opening up before him. One of them is broad and smooth, easy to travel, with many comfortable inns, taverns and other places of beauty and delight. Along this road go great crowds of people on horseback or in carriages, in a hubbub of music and mindless laughter. One sees a multitude intoxicated by a joy which is simply ephemeral and superficial, for this road leads to a bottomless precipice. It is the road taken by the worldly-minded, ever seeking material pleasure, boasting a happiness that they do not really possess and craving insatiably for comfort and pleasureâŚ
They are terrified at the thought of suffering, self-denial or sacrifice. They have no wish to know anything about the Cross of Christ. They think it is sheer madness. But it is they who are insane, for they are slaves of envy, gluttony and sensuality. They end up suffering far more, and only too late do they realize that they have squandered both their earthly and their eternal happiness in exchange for meaningless trifles. Our Lord has warned us about this. The man who tries to save his life shall lose it; it is the man who loses his life for my sake who will secure it. How is the man the better for it if he gains the whole world at the cost of losing his own soul?
In that dream there is another path going in a different direction. It is so steep and narrow that the travellers who take it cannot go on horseback. All who take it must go on foot, perhaps having to zigzag from side to side, but they move steadily on, treading on thorns and briars, picking their way round rocks and boulders. At times their clothing gets torn, and even their flesh. But at the end of this road a garden of paradise awaits them, eternal happiness, heaven. This is the way taken by holy people, who humble themselves and who, out of love for Jesus, gladly sacrifice themselves for others. Itâs the path of those who are not afraid of an uphill climb, who bear the cross lovingly, no matter how heavy it may be, because they know that if they fall under its weight, they can still get up and continue their ascent. Christ is the strength of these travellers.
To live with Christ, we need to die with him, bearing the Cross in our flesh as well. By contemplating anew what Jesus suffered for us in his Passion and Death, we can conquer our resistance and arouse our determination once again to follow our Lord closely. So much do I love Christ on the Cross that every crucifix is like a loving reproach from my God: âI suffering, and you⌠a coward. I loving you, and you forgetting me. I begging you, and you⌠denying me. I here, with arms wide open as an Eternal Priest, suffering all that can be suffered for love of you⌠and you complaining at the slightest misunderstanding, over the tiniest humiliationâŚâ
Generosity in corporal mortification. Extraordinary mortifications.
Our plan of life includes specific corporal mortifications that we practise in a spirit of atonement and zeal to co-redeem. Let us ask ourselves now, in Godâs presence, whether we take advantage of the grace he sends us to practise those corporal mortifications in a cheerful, sporting spirit.
St Paul asks: Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.
Besides our set mortifications, at times our spirit of penance leads us to consult other mortifications as well: always with your Directorâs permission, since it is for the Director to moderate them; but to moderate them doesnât always mean to lessen them, but also to increase them if the Director thinks it appropriate. But, when? At those times - how clearly they make themselves felt! - when God is asking more of us, our Father explained: when God wants us to be more purified, when the Church invites us to greater penance, or for apostolic reasons, when we have to pray for a special intention, or a new vocation is nearâŚ
By generously sharing in our Lordâs Passion and Death on the Cross, we also come to share in the glory of his Resurrection, and help many souls along the path to heaven. Therefore, we must bring into our life, to make them our own, the life and death of Christ. We must die through mortification and penance, so that Christ may live in us through Love. And then follow in the footsteps of Christ, with a zeal to co-redeem all mankind.
And we will always share the comforting presence of our Lady, Mother of Christ Jesus and our Mother.