{"id":31346,"date":"2017-09-28T13:45:32","date_gmt":"2017-09-28T17:45:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/?p=31346"},"modified":"2017-09-28T16:11:59","modified_gmt":"2017-09-28T20:12:00","slug":"the-daily-cross","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/the-daily-cross\/","title":{"rendered":"The Daily Cross","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"

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This\u00a0meditation continues to build upon the previous writings:\u00a0<\/i>Understanding The Cross<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>Participating in Jesus<\/a>…\u00a0<\/p>\n

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WHILE\u00a0<\/strong>polarization and divisions continue to widen in the world, and controversy and confusion billow through the Church (like the “smoke of satan”)… I hear two words from Jesus right now for my readers: “Be faithfu<\/a>l<\/em>.” Yes, try to live these words each moment today in the face of temptation, demands, opportunities for selflessness, obedience, persecution, etc. and one will quickly discover that\u00a0just being faithful with what one has\u00a0<\/em>is enough of a daily challenge.<\/p>\n

Indeed, it is the daily cross.<\/p>\n

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TEMPERING ZEAL<\/p>\n

Sometimes when we are energized by a homily, a word from Scripture, or a powerful time of prayer, there sometimes comes along with it a temptation: “I must now do something great for God!” We begin to scheme how we can launch a new ministry, sell all our possessions, fast more, suffer more, pray more, give more… but soon, we find ourselves discouraged and downhearted because we have failed to live up to our resolutions. Moreover, our present obligations suddenly seem even more boring, meaningless, and mundane. Oh, what a deception! For in the ordinary<\/em> lies the extraordinary<\/em>! \u00a0<\/p>\n

What could have been a more energizing and incredible spiritual experience than the visitation of the Archangel Gabriel and his Annunciation that Mary would carry God within her womb? But what did\u00a0Mary do? There is no record of her bursting into the streets announcing that the long-awaited Messiah was coming, no stories of apostolic miracles, profound sermons, intense mortifications or a new career in ministry. Rather, it seems that she returned to the duty of the moment… to helping her parents, doing the laundry, fixing meals, and helping those around her, including her cousin Elizabeth. Here, we have the perfect picture of what it means to be an Apostle of Jesus: doing little things with great love.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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DAILY CROSSES<\/p>\n

You see, there is a temptation to want to be someone that we aren’t, to grasp what is not yet to be grasped, to seek beyond what is already in front of our noses:\u00a0the will of God in the present moment<\/em>. Jesus said,\u00a0<\/p>\n

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If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. (Luke 9:23)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Doesn’t the word “daily” already reveal Our Lord’s intention? That is to say, that everyday,\u00a0without having to generate crosses,\u00a0<\/em>there will come opportunity after opportunity to “die to self”, beginning with just getting out of bed. And then making the bed. And then seeking first the Kingdom of God in prayer, instead of seeking our own kingdom on social media, email, etc. Then there are those around us who may be grumpy, demanding, or intolerable, and here the cross of patience presents itself. Then there are the duties of the moment: standing in the cold while waiting for the school bus, getting to work on time, putting on the next load of laundry, changing another poopy diaper, preparing the next meal, sweeping the floor, homework, vacuuming the car… and above all, as St. Paul says, we must:<\/p>\n

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Bear one another\u2019s burdens, and so you will fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he is deluding himself. (Gal 6:2-3)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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LOVE IS THE MEASURE<\/p>\n

Nothing I’ve described above sounds very glamorous.\u00a0<\/i>But it is the will of God for\u00a0your life, and thus, the path to sanctity, <\/i>the road to transformation, <\/i>the highway to union with the Trinity.\u00a0<\/i>The danger is that we begin to daydream that our crosses are not big enough, that we should be doing something else, even be someone else. But as St. Paul says, we are then\u00a0deluding ourselves and embarking on a path that is \u00a0not God’s will\u2014even if it seems “holy.” As St. Francis de Sales wrote in his typical practical wisdom:<\/p>\n

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When God created the world He commanded each tree to bear fruit after its kind; and even so He bids Christians\u2014the living trees of His Church\u2014to bring forth fruits of devotion, each one according to his kind and vocation. A different exercise of devotion is required of each\u2014the noble, the artisan, the servant, the prince, the maiden and the wife; and furthermore such practice must be modified according to the strength, the calling, and the duties of each individual.<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014Introduction to the Devout Life<\/em>, Part I, Ch. 3, p.10<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Thus, it would be ill-advised and ridiculous for a housewife and mother to spend her days praying in the church, or for a monk to spend countless hours engaged in all manner of worldly endeavours; or for a father to spend every free hour evangelizing on the streets, while a bishop remains in solitude. What is holy for one person is not necessarily holy for you. In humility, each of us must look at the vocation to which we are called, and there, see the “daily cross” which God himself has provided, first, through His permissive will revealed in the circumstances of our lives, and second, through His commandments.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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All they need to do is fulfill faithfully the simple duties of Christianity and those called for by their state of life, accept cheerfully all the troubles they meet and submit to God’s will in all that they have to do or suffer\u2014without, in any way, seeking out trouble for themselves… What God arranges for us to experience at each moment is the best and holiest thing that could happen to us.<\/strong> \u2014Fr. Jean-Pierre de Caussade,\u00a0Abandonment to Divine Providence,<\/i> (DoubleDay),\u00a0pp. 26-27<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

“But I feel I am not suffering enough for God!”, one might protest. But, brothers and sisters, it is not the intensity of your cross that matters as much as the intensity of love\u00a0<\/em>with which you embrace it. The difference between the “good” thief and the “bad” thief on Calvary was not the kind<\/i>\u00a0of their suffering, but the love and humility with which they accepted their cross. So you see, cooking supper for your family, without complaint and with generosity, is far more powerful in the order of grace than fasting while lying on your face in a chapel\u2014as your family goes hungry.<\/p>\n

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THE LITTLE TEMPTATIONS<\/p>\n

The same principle applies to the “little” temptations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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No doubt wolves and bears are more dangerous than biting flies. But they don\u2019t\u00a0as frequently cause us annoyance and irritation. So they don\u2019t try our patience in the way that flies do. <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s easy to abstain from murder. But it\u2019s difficult to avoid the\u00a0angry outbursts that so are often aroused within us. It\u2019s easy to avoid adultery. But it\u2019s not so easy to be wholly and constantly pure in words, looks, thoughts, and deeds. <\/strong>It\u2019s easy not to steal what belongs to someone else, difficult not to covet it; easy not to bear false witness in court, difficult to be perfectly truthful in everyday conversation; easy to refrain from getting drunk, difficult to be self-controlled in what we eat and drink; easy not to desire someone\u2019s death, difficult never to desire anything contrary to his interests; easy to avoid open defamation of someone\u2019s character, difficult to avoid all inward contempt of others. <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

In short, these lesser temptations to anger, suspicion, jealousy, envy, frivolity, vanity, foolishness, deception, artificiality, impure thoughts, are a perpetual trial even to those who are most devout and resolute. So we must carefully and diligently prepare for this warfare. But be assured that every victory won over these little foes is like a precious stone in the crown of glory that God prepares for us in heaven. <\/strong>\u2014St. Francis de Sales, Manual of Spiritual Warfare, <\/em>Paul Thigpen, Tan Books; p. 175-176<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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JESUS, THE WAY<\/p>\n

For 18 years, Jesus\u2014knowing that He was the Saviour of the world\u2014daily picked up his saw, his planer, and his hammer, while in the streets beyond His carpenter shop, He listened to the cries of the poor, the oppression of the Romans, the suffering of the diseased, the emptiness of the prostitutes, and the cruelty of the tax collectors. And yet, He did not race ahead of the Father, ahead of His mission… ahead of the Divine Will.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Rather, he emptied himself,\u00a0taking the form of a slave… (Phil 2:7)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This, no doubt, was a painful cross for Jesus… the waiting, waiting, and waiting to fulfill His purpose\u2014the liberation of mankind.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?… I have earnestly desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer… (Luke 2:49; 22:15)<\/span><\/p>\n

And yet,<\/p>\n

Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered. (Heb 5:8)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Still, Jesus was completely at peace because He always sought the Father’s will in the present moment, which for Him, was His “food.” [1]<\/sup><\/a>cf. Luke 4:34<\/span><\/span>