377. Twenty-fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time (B)

Meditations no. 605 (unofficial computer-aided translation)

Loving the Holy Cross.

Today’s Gospel shows the resistance of men to accept the Cross. At one point, the Lord began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer much, be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be put to death and rise again after three days. The sacred text indicates that he spoke of this clearly, which made the Apostles frightened. They had faith in him, they really loved him, they had left everything to follow him, and yet they were unable to accept those words. Peter, of a bolder temperament, and probably thinking that he spoke for everyone, took the Lord aside and began to rebuke him. But he turned and, looking at his disciples, rebuked Peter and said to him: “Depart from me, Satan, for you do not feel the things of God, but the things of men.

It is the harshest rebuke that Jesus addressed to any of his disciples. There was no other way to make them see that the essence of their mission was in the Cross, and that what they were proposing to him responded to a diabolical temptation, which is repeated over and over again throughout the centuries. Saint Paul met with the same resistance to the Cross. He insisted: I have not prided myself on knowing anything else among you but Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.

Something similar is happening today, as our Father pointed out. My children, see that I am not exaggerating. The Cross is still a symbol of death, instead of being a sign of life. The Cross is still fled from as if it were a scaffold, when it is a throne of glory. Christians still reject the Cross and identify it with pain, instead of identifying it with love. You and I must go in search of the Cross, to seek it - let us understand each other - in order to love it, to receive it with open arms, when it comes.

A Cross from which He reigns: oportet illum regnare! (cf. 1 Cor 15:25); from which He manifests Himself great, great, great, eternal, immense, majestic, victorious. And we are small: illum oportet crescere, me autem minui (Jn 3:30). My children, you have the personal experience that the Father does not deceive you. I have told you, and I have written it to you a thousand times, what I have experienced in my poor life: pain is not pain, when we embrace it in union with Jesus. The Cross is not something to be avoided, but something to be received with love. And then the Cross is Christ’s, He carries it and therefore does not weigh. That is why I am a little indignant when there is so much talk - you will tell me that it is a common way of saying in asceticism, and you are right - of the Cross, of crosses. … But I am not convinced. Lord, no, no, no! In the spirit of Opus Dei, the Cross and the crosses are joy, they are honor, they are improvement, perfection, holiness. Joy here and victory there!

This I would like to obtain as the fruit of this morning’s prayer; not only in you, but in all my children whom the Lord is calling to this supernatural enterprise. Thirty-six years with the failure of my poor life, which I find myself poorer every day! What would become of me if I did not love the Cross? What would become of me if I did not live on the Cross? The Cross does not remain a symbol, but the reality of triumph: the throne of my God, the throne of a victorious King.

Christian attitude to suffering.

THE WAY of looking at suffering is revealing of the spirit that moves a person: whether he is a Christian spirit or not. A life with one’s back to God, or with a lukewarm adherence to the Lord, will not be able to avoid being filled with fears. The simple possibility of an illness, a professional setback, a family upset, or any other unfavorable contingency, is enough to sow uneasiness in the soul and perhaps become obsessed with the problem - real or fictitious - and lose good humor.

A truly Christian spirit must contemplate all this with a more supernatural vision. To a greater or lesser extent, suffering is part of the life of every person, and divine loving providence uses it to identify us more with Jesus Christ and to join us in his redemptive mission.

The Christian attitude to suffering contrasts, in one way or another, with the environment that surrounds us, even among those who consider themselves Christians. Saint Paul already alluded to this when he wrote to the Philippians to follow the model of life that he had taught them, because many - those of whom he often spoke to you and now speak to you in tears - behave as enemies of the Cross of Christ. He himself gives the key to this enmity: because they set their hearts on earthly things. They are those who would like a Christianity compatible with a comfortable and uneventful life, and a morality that would be acceptable as long as it did not ask for sacrifices that were considered disproportionate or heroic.

I desire the well-being of the whole world, including material well-being, said our Father. I like that doctors, as far as possible, relieve the sick of physical pain: and that the goods of the earth are better distributed: and that there are fewer poor people, and fewer ignorant … But I do not call this liberation. Therefore, when there are physical or moral pains that cannot be avoided, I think that they are a blessing from God, who wants to make us sharers in his Cross, with joy, so that we may complete what - in the words of St. Paul - we need to suffer for Christ for the sake of his body, which is the Church (Col 1:24).

We have in the Work a fortunate experience, learned in the life of our Founder and in that of our older brothers, who knew how to love the Cross, to sacrifice themselves willingly to make Opus Dei on earth. Isn’t it true that as soon as you stop being afraid of the Cross, of what people call the Cross, when you put your will into accepting the Divine Will, you are happy, and all worries, physical or moral sufferings are over?

The Cross of Jesus is truly gentle and lovable. Sorrows do not count there; only the joy of knowing that they are co-redeemers with Him.

Hence we must often look, especially in the intimacy of prayer, to see if we have truly learned to embrace the Cross, the small one of each day or another greater one that may arise. We do not have to worry if the first reaction to it is one of resistance or repugnance. That is normal, it is a consequence of our sensitive nature, which tends to shun pain. But, at the same time, we know that the Cross of Christ is a throne of glory, it is an instrument of redemption and a source of joy.

Sometimes the Cross appears without looking for it: it is Christ who asks for us. And if by chance in the face of that unexpected Cross, and perhaps for that reason darker, the heart shows repugnance … do not give it consolation. And, full of noble compassion, when he asks for it, say to him slowly, as if in confidence: heart, heart on the Cross, heart on the Cross! Even if peace and joy take a while to break through, with the help of grace they settle in a soul that shows the authenticity of its self-giving with this willingness to embrace its cross, and knows that Christian joy is a joy that has its roots in the form of the cross.

The Cross of Christ is a source of joy.

IT IS well known that in so many places the sense of sin has been lost. Then they speak of liberation, but those who express themselves in this way tend to forget that Jesus Christ came to free us from sin and from the chains of the devil, with the truth: veritas liberabit vos (Jn 8:32). They want to free themselves from poverty, from pain, from sickness, from old age, from servitude: from everything. But not from sin. Then they give free rein to their passions and end up living like beasts. It is subhuman.

There is a third obvious point: having lost the sense of sin and living like beasts, they are filled with anger and violence, they do not know how to live with one another, and they end up destroying the personal freedom of others, which is the most precious gift of nature that God has granted to men.

These people, of whom our Father spoke, perhaps think that it is impossible for them to live in any other way, at least in the environment in which they live. But they are mistaken. To all the Lord says: if anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. “These are words that seem harsh,” observes St. Caesarius of Arles, and what the Lord commanded in the Gospel is judged to be very burdensome: “If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself” (Mk 8:34). But what he commands is not burdensome, because he helps to do what he commands.”

In the Work we have to teach - by example and by word - that it is possible to accept the Cross; that - although it may seem a paradox - that is the only way to be happy on earth. It is necessary to carry the cross. … What cross do you have?, our Father asks us. If I were to speak to each one of you alone, in confidence, I would show you that this cross that weighs so heavily on you, that seems to you to be a great cross, you see it that way because it is your cross, not Christ’s. It weighs you down because it is a cross motivated by pride. It would make you discover that it is a subjective thing, that it does not really exist: a cross that you invent because of your sensuality, because of your pride, because of your laziness. When we look at things objectively, it is reduced to half of a hundredth part. The rest, I repeat, are your inventions.

How can we bear the yoke that Jesus wants to put on our shoulders? With joy, children. The Cross is always shown to be something very holy, a cause of happiness, a sign that one is close to Christ. The Cross, the Cross of Christ, does not weigh: iugum enim meum suave est et onus meum leve (Mt 11:30), because my yoke is soft and my burden light. How many times have you meditated on this? Surely, really, that you have thought about it? How many, how many times?

Let us decide to make a practical resolution: if you ever feel blinded - it is not something that happens to everyone, it sometimes happens to someone - and it seems to you that you are carrying a mountain of weight, let us speak immediately in spiritual direction, to tell it simply, clearly and with great delicacy. You will then perceive a great relief, when you hear the voice of the person who listens to you, or of the priest, who provide you with the appropriate and effective advice to get out of that situation.

Joy is the most germinating sign that we are walking in pursuit of the Lord. As soon as we recognize that the Cross is a source of joy, redemption and glory, we can only love it. He wants the Cross. When you really want it, your Cross will be … a Cross, without a Cross.

And surely, like Him, you will find Mary on the road.