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To many the saying, "Deny thyself, take up thy cross
and follow Me,"(1) seems hard, but it will be much
harder to hear that final word: "Depart from Me, ye
cursed, into everlasting fire."(2) Those who hear the
word of the cross and follow it willingly now, need
not fear that they will hear of eternal damnation on
the day of judgment. This sign of the cross will be
in the heavens when the Lord comes to judge. Then all
the servants of the cross, who during life made
themselves one with the Crucified, will draw near
with great trust to Christ, the judge.Why, then,
do you fear to take up the cross when through it you
can win a kingdom? In the cross is salvation, in the
cross is life, in the cross is protection from
enemies, in the cross is infusion of heavenly
sweetness, in the cross is strength of mind, in the
cross is joy of spirit, in the cross is highest
virtue, in the cross is perfect holiness. There is no
salvation of soul nor hope of everlasting life but in
the cross.
Take up your cross, therefore, and follow Jesus, and
you shall enter eternal life. He Himself opened the
way before you in carrying His cross, and upon it He
died for you, that you, too, might take up your cross
and long to die upon it. If you die with Him, you
shall also live with Him, and if you share His
suffering, you shall also share His glory.
Behold, in the cross is everything, and upon your
dying on the cross everything depends. There is no
other way to life and to true inward peace than the
way of the holy cross and daily mortification. Go
where you will, seek what you will, you will not find
a higher way, nor a less exalted but safer way, than
the way of the holy cross. Arrange and order
everything to suit your will and judgment, and still
you will find that some suffering must always be
borne, willingly or unwillingly, and thus you will
always find the cross.
Either you will experience bodily pain or you will
undergo tribulation of spirit in your soul. At times
you will be forsaken by God, at times troubled by
those about you and, what is worse, you will often
grow weary of yourself. You cannot escape, you cannot
be relieved by any remedy or comfort but must bear
with it as long as God wills. For He wishes you to
learn to bear trial without consolation, to submit
yourself wholly to Him that you may become more
humble through suffering. No one understands the
passion of Christ so thoroughly or heartily as the
man whose lot it is to suffer the like himself.
The cross, therefore, is always ready; it awaits you
everywhere. No matter where you may go, you cannot
escape it, for wherever you go you take yourself with
you and shall always find yourself. Turn where you
will -- above, below, without, or within -- you will
find a cross in everything, and everywhere you must
have patience if you would have peace within and
merit an eternal crown.
If you carry the cross willingly, it will carry
and lead you to the desired goal where indeed there
shall be no more suffering, but here there shall be.
If you carry it unwillingly, you create a burden for
yourself and increase the load, though still you have
to bear it. If you cast away one cross, you will find
another and perhaps a heavier one. Do you expect to
escape what no mortal man can ever avoid? Which of
the saints was without a cross or trial on this
earth? Not even Jesus Christ, our Lord, Whose every
hour on earth knew the pain of His passion. "It
behooveth Christ to suffer, and to rise again from
the dead, . . . and so enter into his glory."(3) How
is it that you look for another way than this, the
royal way of the holy cross?
The whole life of Christ was a cross and a martyrdom,
and do you seek rest and enjoyment for yourself? You
deceive yourself, you are mistaken if you seek
anything but to suffer, for this mortal life is full
of miseries and marked with crosses on all sides.
Indeed, the more spiritual progress a person makes,
so much heavier will he frequently find the cross,
because as his love increases, the pain of his exile
also increases.
Yet such a man, though afflicted in many ways, is
not without hope of consolation, because he knows
that great reward is coming to him for bearing his
cross. And when he carries it willingly, every pang
of tribulation is changed into hope of solace from
God. Besides, the more the flesh is distressed by
affliction, so much the more is the spirit
strengthened by inward grace. Not infrequently a man
is so strengthened by his love of trials and hardship
in his desire to conform to the cross of Christ, that
he does not wish to be without sorrow or pain, since
he believes he will be the more acceptable to God if
he is able to endure more and more grievous things
for His sake.
It is the grace of Christ, and not the virtue of man,
which can and does bring it about that through fervor
of spirit frail flesh learns to love and to gain what
it naturally hates and shuns.
To carry the cross, to love the cross, to chastise
the body and bring it to subjection, to flee honors,
to endure contempt gladly, to despise self and wish
to be despised, to suffer any adversity and loss, to
desire no prosperous days on earth -- this is not
man's way. If you rely upon yourself, you can do none
of these things, but if you trust in the Lord,
strength will be given you from heaven and the world
and the flesh will be made subject to your word. You
will not even fear your enemy, the devil, if you are
armed with faith and signed with the cross of Christ.
Set yourself, then, like a good and faithful
servant of Christ, to bear bravely the cross of your
Lord, Who out of love was crucified for you. Be ready
to suffer many adversities and many kinds of trouble
in this miserable life, for troublesome and miserable
life will always be, no matter where you are; and so
you will find it wherever you may hide. Thus it must
be; and there is no way to evade the trials and
sorrows of life but to bear them.
Drink the chalice of the Lord with affection it
you wish to be His friend and to have part with Him.
Leave consolation to God; let Him do as most pleases
Him. On your part, be ready to bear sufferings and
consider them the greatest consolation, for even
though you alone were to undergo them all, the
sufferings of this life are not worthy to be compared
with the glory to come.
When you shall have come to the point where
suffering is sweet and acceptable for the sake of
Christ, then consider yourself fortunate, for you
have found paradise on earth. But as long as
suffering irks you and you seek to escape, so long
will you be unfortunate, and the tribulation you seek
to evade will follow you everywhere. If you put your
mind to the things you ought to consider, that is, to
suffering and death, you would soon be in a better
state and would find peace.
Although you were taken to the third heaven with
Paul, you were not thereby insured against suffering.
Jesus said: "I will show him how great things he must
suffer for My name's sake."(4) To suffer, then,
remains your lot, if you mean to love Jesus and serve
Him forever.
If you were but worthy to suffer something for the
name of Jesus, what great glory would be in store for
you, what great joy to all the saints of God, what
great edification to those about you! For all men
praise patience though there are few who wish to
practice it.
With good reason, then, ought you to be willing to
suffer a little for Christ since many suffer much
more for the world.
Realize that you must lead a dying life; the more
a man dies to himself, the more he begins to live
unto God.
No man is fit to enjoy heaven unless he has
resigned himself to suffer hardship for Christ.
Nothing is more acceptable to God, nothing more
helpful for you on this earth than to suffer
willingly for Christ. If you had to make a choice,
you ought to wish rather to suffer for Christ than to
enjoy many consolations, for thus you would be more
like Christ and more like all the saints. Our merit
and progress consist not in many pleasures and
comforts but rather in enduring great afflictions and
sufferings.
If, indeed, there were anything better or more useful
for man's salvation than suffering, Christ would have
shown it by word and example. But He clearly exhorts
the disciples who follow Him and all who wish to
follow Him to carry the cross, saying: "If any man
will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up
his cross daily, and follow Me."(5)
When, therefore, we have read and searched all
that has been written, let this be the final
conclusion -- that through much suffering we must
enter into the kingdom of God.
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