Following in the Crucified's Footsteps

UKUHLAWULWA KWELENTEN
Usuku 38

Iibhaluni-ebusuku3

Yiloo nto kude ekuphumeni kwethu, ndijolise ikakhulu kubomi bangaphakathi. Kodwa njengoko benditshilo kwiintsuku ezimbalwa ezidlulileyo, ubomi bokomoya ayibobizo nje kuphela intlangano noThixo, kodwa a khomishini ukuphuma ehlabathini kwaye…

…make disciples of all nations… teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. (Matt 28:19-20)

That is to say my friends that this Lenten Retreat would be a colossal failure if it was reduced to a “Jesus and me” mentality—the kind of shallow self-actualization preached these days among some televangelists. I think Pope Benedict XVI nailed it when he wondered aloud:

Yayinokwenzeka njani into yokuba umbono kaYesu ungabantu abodwa kwaye ujolise kumntu ngamnye kuphela? Silufike njani olu toliko "losindiso lomphefumlo" njengendawo yokusaba uxanduva luphela, kwaye kwenzeka njani ukuba siyibone le projekthi yobuKristu njengokhangelo lokuzingca losindiso oluchasa ingcamango yokukhonza abanye? -IPOPE BENEDICT XVI, Thetha uSalvi (Ugcinwe Ngethemba), n. 16

Clearly, Matthew 28 inaugurates the Church itself as the “sacrament of salvation” by first being the ubuso of Christ, then the ilizwi of Christ, then the amandla of Christ—particularly through the Sacraments.

In a recently published interview, Emeritus Pope Benedict again underscored that zonke Christian is called out of themselves into a “being for others.” I think he makes a wonderful summary here for our retreat thus far:

Christians, so to speak, are not so for themselves, but are, with Christ, for others… What the human person needs in the order of salvation [in order to be saved] is a profound openness with regards to God, a profound expectation of and adherence to Him, and this correspondingly means that we, together with the Lord whom we have encountered, go towards others and seek to make visible to them the advent of God in Christ. —from a 2015 interview with Jesuit theologian Father Jacques Servais; translated from the Italian in Iileta ezivela kwiJenali kaRobert Moynihan, Letter #18, 2016

We make Jesus “visible” to others when He himself lives in and through us, which is the goal of the interior life. As Pope Paul VI said,

Abantu bamamela ngokuzithandela amangqina kunabafundisi-ntsapho, kwaye xa abantu bemamela ootitshala, kungenxa yokuba bangamangqina. —UAPOPE PAUL VI, Ukuhambisa ivangeli kwiLizwe lale mihla, n. I-41

And they are witnesses, not by reading about Jesus in books so much as encountering Him personally, an idea that is almost foreign to some Christians.

Ngamanye amaxesha amaKatolika aphulukene okanye awazange abe nethuba lokuva u-Kristu ngokobuqu: hayi u-Kristu njenge 'paradigm' okanye 'ixabiso', kodwa njengeNkosi ephilayo, 'indlela, nenyaniso, nobomi'. —UAPOPE JOHN PAUL II, L'Osservatore Romano (Uhlelo lwesiNgesi lweVatican Newspaper), ngoMatshi 24, 1993, iphe. 3.

But St. Paul asks…

…how can they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone to preach? (Rom 10:14)

You and I, dear brothers and sisters—we are called to become these witnesses, which we can really only be by an interior life of prayer in which we love Christ, and an exterior life of good works in which we love Christ in our neighbour.

It is therefore primarily by the Church’s conduct, by living witness of fidelity to the Lord Jesus, that the Church will evangelize the world. This century thirsts for authenticity… Do you preach what you live? The world expects from us simplicity of life, the spirit of prayer, obedience, humility, detachment and self-sacrifice. —UAPOPE PAUL VI, Ukuhambisa ivangeli kwiLizwe lale mihla, n. I-41, 76

But brothers and sisters, Jesus also said:

If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. (John 15:20)

You see, the Christian who is truly filled with the fire and light of Christ is like a hot air balloon that ascends above the earth, becoming visible in this world’s night of sin. As the flames of love increase in the heart through prayer, they radiate from the soul over the world. And this has two effects: one is that you will evangelize others: some will receive the “word of God”, as Jesus said, but others will hayi welcome the light, no matter how profoundly it glows with the radiance of love. They will seek to crucify you too, for as Jesus said, the…

…people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed. (John 3:19-20)

We need to be prepared, more than ever today, to follow in the footsteps of Jesus who walked not only among the welcoming throngs, but also the angry mobs. For the persecution that I have been compelled to warn about for years is beginning to burst out upon the whole Church. ^[1]cf. Utshutshiso!… Kunye neTsunami yokuziphatha kwaye ITsunami Yokomoya It doesn’t take a prophet to see this, such as the late Servant of God Fr. John Hardon who said:

Abo bacela umngeni kobuhedeni butsha bajongene nokukhetha okunzima. Enoba avumelana nale ntanda-bulumko okanye ajongane nethuba lokufel 'ukholo. —Fr. UJohn Hardon (1914-2000), Unokuba NgumKatolika Othembekileyo Namhlanje? Ngokunyaniseka kwiBhishophu yaseRoma; ukuyinako.org

This is why I feel Our Lady wanted this retreat: because she sees what is coming and knows that the only way to have the strength to endure the coming Passion is to contemplate Jesus, as she did. For in contemplating He who is love, we become love, and St. John writes…

… Uthando olugqibeleleyo lulukhuphela ngaphandle uloyiko. (1 Yohane 4:18)

The soul whose interior life is transfixed in a gaze upon the face of Jesus can say with the Psalmist:

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom should I fear? The Lord is my life’s refuge; of whom should I be afraid? (Psalm 27:1)

In closing, you’ll recall that the seven beatitudes of the Gospels reveal seven paths by which the grace and presence of God come to us. If you live these beatitudes, which in essence are to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,” then you will also partake of the eighth beatitude:

Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven. (Matt 5:9-10)

ISISHWANKATHELO NESIBHALO

Following in the footsteps of Jesus means conforming one’s life to God through prayer and the Sacraments, and then revealing this inner life to others through authentic Christian witness.

…[I am] depending on faith to know him and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by being conformed to his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead… For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in his footsteps. (Phil 3:9-10; 1 Pet 2:21))

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