"No pit is so deep that his love is not deeper still." - Betsy Ten Boom
I was thinking of St. Therese's counsel to Celine about the humiliation of always finding oneself on the ground. She told her to rejoice at finding herself so imperfect as to be always falling on the ground through her faults and humiliations, since these so attract the mercy of Jesus. I often think of this during the stations of the cross, and imagine the face of Jesus so very close to mine when he falls carrying the cross. I find I'm content to meet him there, face to face in my misery.
Wow.. I'd never thought of looking up into Jesus' face from there on the ground, flat on my face. Of course it is there, very near our own. He is ever our greatest champion/er.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this.
Caryll Houselander:
ReplyDeleteSaints....cannot see men as derelicts...they can only see them as Christ, down on His face in the dust under the weight of the cross, needing another man to help Him carry it.
Thanks Terry. I have read that, but today, it resonated. Thank you.
ReplyDeletesf ~ OHHHHH.....that just explained a LOT of things.
Adoro:
ReplyDeleteCaryll speaks about the Mystical Body of Christ-- that Jesus is in the neurotic, the alcoholic, the addict, the depressed and anxious, people with eating disorders, etc- it is the suffering Jesus and many times Christians are insensitive to the sufferings of those who continually fail and say to them such things as "if they'd only pull themselves up" etc, when what they need is not insensitive and uncaring remarks, but a lending, kind hand. And even if they take the sacraments and we help them, they still might not be healed for it might not be God's will to heal them; that in their suffering they are participating in the sufferings of Christ. We see this in the wheelchair bound, but somehow do not see it in those who struggle in other areas. And we don't see it in ourselves, in our failures. When we fail, as Terry noted, we are participating in the suffering of Christ, because Jesus is in us and rather than turning to ourselves with hatred, we need to again and again (in all humility and gentleness), commend ourselves to and look at God who wishes to wipe our brow and lift us up. This occurs in the confessional when we meet Jesus who is love and wishes to infuse His love into us via the sacrament.
I don't know what heresy it would be called, but there must be a heresy in our modern age, believed in by prosperity minded Christians, where the weak, the lonely, the sick, the neurotic and the broken, are mocked and ridiculed as "less than". This is a falsehood and they are full members of the Mystical Body just as much as the successful doctor who is healthy in mind and body.
Regards to you and sorry if this went too long.
SF - That is it - you have expressed it well!
ReplyDeleteTerry, The Holy Father's Weds audience on St. Ambrose emphasized the saint's mystical communion with Christ. Link to Open Book if you wish to read:
ReplyDeletehttp://amywelborn.wordpress.com/2007/10/25/no-clowns/
sf ~ Thanks for the synopsis on the value of suffering...you covered a lot of what was in my JP2 paper last semester, but you did it a lot more concisely!
ReplyDeleteBut in your shorter comment, you had actually given answer to an experience I had recently with some people at the parish at which I work...and in your comment, God was revealed.
To anyone - And no, the situation I'm referring to is not on my blog or anywhere else. :-)
~ Adoro
happy to find myself so close to Jesus...
ReplyDeleteIt's odd that some times we refuse to see Jesus till we are on our face. Thats hitting the nail on the head for me.
ReplyDelete