53 — THE DAILY CROSS

Presence of God. — O crucified Jesus, for the merits of your Cross, teach me to carry my cross each day.

Meditation

1 — “He who does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me” (Mt. 10, 38). With such words the divine Master expressly declares that carrying the cross is an indispensable condition to be his followers. The name of cross, however, must not make us think only of special sufferings — which, though not being excluded, are not, in general, things of every day — but it is fitting above all to think of those ordinary and daily discomforts that are never lacking in any form of life and that we must seek to embrace as so many instruments of progress and of spiritual fecundity.

Often it is perhaps easier to accept, in a spurt of generosity, great sacrifices, great sufferings that present themselves once in a while, than not certain small, minute daily sufferings, intimately connected with one’s state of life and with the fulfillment of one’s duty; sufferings that re-present themselves every day, always with the same countenance, with the same intensity and insistence, through situations that remain immutable for a long time. They are physical discomforts deriving from lack of health, from economic straitness, or again from fatigue, from overload of work or of preoccupations, they are moral sufferings resulting from divergences of views, from contrasts of temperament, from misunderstandings, etc. All this constitutes that concrete and real cross that every day Jesus presents to us, inviting us to carry it behind him; humble daily cross that does not demand great gestures of heroism, but before which we must every day repeat our yes, bending docilely our shoulders to carry its weight with generosity and love. The value, the fecundity of our daily sufferings lies precisely here, in this acceptance without reserves, by which we take them as God presents them to us, without seeking to withdraw ourselves from them nor even to diminish their weight. “Yes, O Father, because so it has pleased you” (Mt. 11, 26).

2 — Jesus gives to our sufferings the name of cross, because cross means instrument of salvation, and He wishes that our suffering be not vain, but become cross, that is become for us a means of elevation, of sanctification. And in fact any suffering is transformed into cross as soon as we accept it from the hands of the Lord, adhering to his will that wishes to make use of it for our spiritual profit. If this is true for the great sufferings, it is very true also for the small ones; all enter into the divine plan, all — even the most minute — have been from eternity predisposed by God for our sanctification. Let us accept them therefore with serenity, without letting ourselves be immersed in the things that displease us; let us maintain them in the place that they must have and that in reality they have in the divine plan, that is place of instruments, through which we shall be able to realize our ideal of holiness, of union with God. If these contrarieties are an evil because they make us suffer, they are a good because they give us occasion to exercise virtue, because they purify us and draw us near to the Lord. But, to know how to carry the cross, it does not suffice to understand its value, there is need also of strength. If we let ourselves be guided by Jesus, He certainly will give it to us and, precisely through the struggles and daily sufferings, He will carry us, by the road chosen by him, to that degree of holiness that he has fixed for each one of us. But one must have an immense confidence, go forward with closed eyes, abandoning oneself totally; one must accept the cross that the Lord offers us and carry it with love. If, with the help of grace, we shall know how to sanctify thus all the great and small daily sufferings, without losing serenity and confidence, we shall become saints. Many souls are discouraged before suffering and strive to avoid it, because they have not enough confidence in the Lord, they do not believe enough that all, even to the smallest particulars, is disposed by him for our true good. Every suffering, be it great or small, always conceals a grace of redemption, of sanctification; and this grace becomes ours as soon as we accept suffering in a spirit of faith and for love of God.

Colloquy

“Well I see, O Jesus, my sweet Captain, that You raise the standard of your Cross and amorously say to me: ‘Take the cross that I present to you and, though its weight seem grievous to you, come behind me and doubt not’. To correspond then to your invitation, I promise you, O my celestial Spouse, no longer to make resistance to your love. But already I see that you set out for Calvary, and behold that your spouse promptly follows you.

“And since the spouse cannot please the Spouse, if she does not study with particular diligence to render herself in all things similar to him, so, O my Spouse Jesus, I propose now and for ever to procure with every care to imitate you and to crucify myself all with you... I must figure to myself that my calvary is the cloister, my cross the regular observance, my nails the three vows. Every consolation, O Lord, only from you do I desire, not on earth, but in heaven; little do I care to live happy, provided that I live as a religious. With good will I consign my heart a prey to afflictions, to sadnesses, to travails. I rejoice not to rejoice, because at that table of eternity that awaits me, must precede in this life the fast.

“All is little, O my God, to conquer you, in whom is every good; and no fatigue ought to seem hard to me, nor must I turn back for the difficulties that I may encounter, but I wish to embrace bitternesses and every sort of crosses with promptness” (cf. T.M. Sp. pp. 324, 304, 132, 128, 131).

“Is there perhaps any thing, O Lord, among all those that you do, which is not directed to the greater good of the soul that considers itself now as yours, having submitted itself to your will, to follow you wherever, even unto death on the cross, determined to help you to carry it and never to leave you alone?... I wish then to confide in your goodness... Lead me by where you best please; I am no longer mine, but yours. Make of me, O Lord, what you will; I ask you only that I may no more offend you. I wish to suffer, O Lord, since You too have suffered” (cf. T.G. Vi. 11, 12).