582. September 14, Exaltation of Holy Cross (I)
Meditations no. 511 (unofficial computer-aided translation)
In the Work we strive to love Christâs cross madly.
Today the Cross is covered with flowers in our oratories. We have so often kissed the wood devoutly, but today it seems insufficient to say aspirations as we approach it. Our devotion seeks to express itself materially in the garland of flowers that adorns the holy Cross.
Todayâs feast commemorates the rescue of Christâs cross from the Persians by the emperor Heraclius. The lessons in the Breviary tell how the emperor, clad in his royal robes, tried personally to carry the holy Wood back to its original place on Calvary. But as it grew heavier and heavier as he walked along, he found the weight impossible to bear. Zacharias, bishop of Jerusalem, advised him to take off his ceremonial robes and imitate the poverty and humility of Christ, who embraced the Cross with complete detachment. So Heraclius put on a poor penitent garment and removed his sandals. He was then able to take up the holy Cross and carry it back to the spot on Golgotha from which it had been taken by the Persians.
Our Father always taught us that it is impossible to follow Christ and attain sanctity without the Cross. This is also the lesson we learn from this pious tradition. There is no more certain sign of having found Christ than to feel the weight of his blessed Cross. Our Lord gave himself up for each one of us, showing us the way to follow him. The soul who perseveres in his love finds the Cross along his path, and on it he finds Christ.
Carissimi: Christus passus est pro nobis, vobis relinquens exemplum ut sequamini vestigia eius (1 Pet 2: 21). Beloved, Christ suffered for us, leaving us an example so that we might follow in his footsteps. Following his example⌠How often you have meditated on this, and got others to do so! How often I have told you this, even without having this text in mind!. ⌠And in the midst of my personal errors, I have always tried to live this: to follow his example, to follow Christ. In this forge of suffering, where God has placed me to bring the Work forward- Lord, you have given me sufferings in abundance, thank you!-; in this forge of sorrow that has been my life, God has taught me that whoever walks in Christâs footsteps finds joy.
At the beginning, when some heard us speak about joy and optimism, they were scandalized and murmured: theyâre going against traditional asceticism, they donât speak about the Cross! Without knowing our spirit, they wanted to teach us how to love the Cross. I say this without any pride, since I know very well that we are made of clay, but still I was surprised when they tried to raise objections to the path God had wanted to mark out for us. By Godâs goodness, we have always borne the Cross on our shoulders and we have constantly found it along our path. We have it in our Centres-the solitary, wooden cross without a corpus-and we kiss it with the passion of people in love. These persons werenât aware that when someone joins the Work, in that attempt at a ceremony which is the oblation-for itâs no more than an attempt-, we make the sign of the Cross over the person and say: âChrist in your mind, Christ on your lips, Christ in your heart, Christ in your works.â I was amazed that they would make such an interpretation, when our Lord, on that 14th of February, 1943, had chosen to crown his Work with the Cross, as the facades of churches and important buildings are crowned.
What these people forget is that when one walks in the footsteps of Christ, when itâs no longer a question of resignation but rather of âconformingâ oneâs life to the Cross, assuming the very form of the Cross; when one loves Godâs will, when one loves the Cross: then the Cross no longer weighs, the Cross is no longer mine, but His, and He carries it with me?
We are identified with our Lord on the Cross.
Christâs mission reaches its fullness in the supreme sacrifice of Calvary that was the aim of his whole life. The Christian, in following the path of the Master, also reaches full identification with Christ, the maturity of supernatural life, when united to him on the Cross, and along with Christ becomes obedient unto death, even death on a cross. This was St Paulâs teaching to the Galatians: I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
God wanted to engrave this truth in the life of our founder and the Work, to the point of becoming the foundation of our spirit. Our Father always taught us that to find the Cross is to find Christ. And with Him there is always joy, even when faced with injustice, misunderstanding and physical suffering. Thatâs why Iâm unhappy when I hear people call the setbacks that often spring from pride âcrossesâ. These arenât the Cross, the true Cross, since they arenât Christâs Cross. Iâve never seen myself as unfortunate, even though God has sent me sufferings in abundance. Thank you, Lord! Thank you, because you have given me an asceticism that is your own. You have made me understand that to have the Cross is to have joy, it is to have You.
When God sent me those blows back in 1931, I didnât understand it. Then all at once, in the midst of such great bitterness, came the words: You are my son (Ps 2: 7), you are Christ And I could only stammer: Abba, Pater!, Abba, Pater!, Abba!, Abba!, Abba! Now I see it with new light, like a new discovery, just as one sees, after years have passed, the hand of God, of divine Wisdom, of the All-powerful. Youâve led me, Lord, to understand that to find the Cross is to find happiness, joy. And I see the reason with greater clarity than ever: to find the Cross is to identify oneself with Christ, to be Christ, and therefore to be a son of God.
By sharing in Christâs Cross, we become co-redeemers.
Father, forgive them: for they know not what they do. Christâs words on the cross encompass all mankind, every single person. We will never comprehend the mystery of sin in all of its depth as an offence against God, which made the cross a fitting death for the Son of God. On the cross, Christ was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with his stripes we are healed. And like sheep we have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. When he makes himself an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring, he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
As children of God, we not only have to maintain a lively sorrow for our personal sins. We also have to offer satisfaction for the sins of all mankind. We cannot remain indifferent when we see God offended and the divine law brazenly defied. This sad experience fills our heart with desires to co-redeem with Christ. If the Son of God became man and died on the Cross, he did so that we men might become one with him and with the Father (cf Jn 17: 22). Therefore we are all called to form part of this divine unity. With a priestly soul, making the holy Mass the centre of our interior life, we seek to be with Jesus, between God and men.
Our union with Christ makes us aware that we are co-redeeming the world with him, helping all souls to share in the fruit of his Passion and to know and follow the path of salvation that leads to the Father.
We become co-redeemers by taking up Christâs cross in our own life, forgetting about ourselves and being concerned about God and souls, and making reparation for our faults and those of all men. If we are truly to become other Christs, we have to strive to make up for the sins of the world by our own dedication. This will lead us to love expiation in our flesh and in our spirit, to not turn our back on suffering when God allows it, to be mortified, to love the Cross. The holy Cross will make us endure, always with the spirit of the Gospel itself, producing the apostolate of action as the savoury fruit of prayer and sacrifice.
Before we end our prayer, we go to our Lady. Lord, I ask your Mother, St Joseph our patron and my ministerial archangel, to ask that my children and I always have this spirit. Ne respicias peccata mea, sed fidem! This faith, this light, this love for the Cross, to the point of death! The divine light that will always make us understand clearly that it is worthwhile being nailed to the Cross, since it means entering into Life and becoming inebriated by the life of Christ. The Cross! There you will find Christ, and you must lose yourself in Him! Then there will be no more sorrow, no more fatigue. You shouldnât say, âLord, I canât do any more, Iâm so wretched.â No! Itâs not true! On the cross you will be Christ, and you will feel that you are a child of God, and you will cry out, Abba, Pater! Lord, what a joy it is to find you!