Herod had put St John Baptist to death. He wanted the Saviour of the world of whom he had heard so much, to work a miracle before him, not that he might be converted; but simply to gratify his vanity and curiosity.
God does not grant extraordinary graces to such men; but reserves them for the humble, who deem themselves unworthy of them. He delights to pour them on those who are emptied of self, dead to self-love, seeking only his greater glory. These souls ask for extraordinary graces or miracles only that they may serve him better, or gain others to his service.
Why do we receive so few extraordinary graces? We probably lack these dispositions or made little progress in them despite many years in our state in life.
Wonderful indeed was the silence and passiveness of our Lord before Herod. He was accused of great crimes; but he could have confounded them in a few words, and turned the tide in his favor. Yet he held his peace. He went there to receive a sentence for life or death. Had Jesus worked a miracle as Herod desired, he would have found protection; but he did not.
Herod and his court regarded the calm silence of our Lord as helplessness and stupidity; and treated it as such. Jesus kept silence to punish Herod’s pride and to teach us to mortify ours. Pride is our greatest trial: it makes us desire esteem, notice, praise, and applause, especially from the powerful. Have we fought steadfastly against this unruly passion of pride?
Let us contemplate Jesus, the King of Glory, the eternal Wisdom; standing before Herod, insulted by the coarse and stupid mob. Let us, in spirit, follow him wearing the fool’s robe through the streets of Jerusalem. The immense crowd which the Paschal feast had brought into the city jeering at him.
When we contemplate Jesus Christ as the living model of perfection, it should kindle in our hearts an ardent desire to imitate him, and willingly serve him. To be ready for his love, to be despised, insulted, reviled, and even considered a fool despite our innocence. This is the ‘foolishness of the Cross’. Many of God’s servants have travelled by this road.
Ref: cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, pp131-3
The opposition from the good
We must always pray for peace in the Church and for Christians of every country. However, we should not be surprised or frightened if there is resistance to the teaching of Christ which we want to spread, a hostility in the form of defamation, calumnies. God will help us to reap abundant fruits from such situations.
On arriving in Rome, the Jews living there, referring to the infant Church, told St Paul: “We know that everywhere it is spoken against” (Acts 28:22). After twenty centuries we continue to see how in various countries thousands of good Christians, priests and lay persons, have suffered martyrdom because of their faith.
They have been discriminated against for their beliefs, or kept out of public offices or teaching positions on account of their Catholicism; or encounter difficulties in securing a Christian education for their children.
It is difficult to understand calumny or persecution at a time when one hears so much about tolerance, understanding, fellowship and peace. But the attacks become more difficult to understand when they come from good men, when a Christian persecutes, no matter how, another Christian, or a brother, his brother.
Our Lord prepared his own for these inevitable times when the enemies of Christ are not pagans, but brothers in the Faith who think that by their actions they would be doing “a service to God” (cf Jn 16:2). This ‘opposition from the good’, an expression coined by the founder of ‘Opus Dei’, St Josemaria Escrivá to describe what he experienced so painfully, is a trial God sometimes permits.
It is particularly painful for the Christian victim. The calumniators are usually motivated by human passions that can distort good judgment and complicate the clear intention of men who profess the same faith as those they attack, and who make up the same People of God.
At times jealousies supervene; rash allegations that may arise from envy, and make it possible to regard as evil the good that others are doing. There can also be a ‘tunnel vision’ of dogmatism that refuses to recognize for others the right to think differently in matters left by God to the free judgment of men. (cf J Orlandis, “The Eight Beatitudes”, p150)
The Christian who wants to be faithful to Christ must learn to pardon, make amends and act with rectitude of intention, all the time focused on Christ.
“Don’t expect people’s applause ... sometimes you musn’t even expect other people and institutions, who like you are working for Christ, to understand you. Seek only the glory of God and while loving everyone, don’t worry if there are some who do not comprehend what it is you are doing.” (St Josemaria Escrivá, “The Forge”, 255)
“Turn to our Lady, the Mother, Daughter, and Spouse of God, and our Mother, and ask her to obtain more graces for you from the Blessed Trinity -- the grace of faith, of hope, of love and of contrition, so that when it seems that a harsh dry wind is blowing in your life, threatening the flowers of your soul, they will not wither, and neither will those of your brothers.” (cf Ibid, Op cit, 227)
Ref: cf Francis Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 4:589-592
Prayer for our enemies -- "O GOD, the lover and preserver of peace and charity: grant unto all our enemies peace and true charity; give them remission of all their sins, and by Thy power deliver us from their snares. Amen." (Very Rev Charles J Callan, OP, STM and Very Rev John A McHugh, OP, STM, “Blessed Be God”, 1925, p469)
Crucible -- “Insults hurt so much, even though you want to love them. Don’t be surprised: offer them to God.” (St Josemaria Escrivá, “The Forge”, 793)
Our Lady of Victory. This image bears that name because the French having fortunately taken it from the hands of the Greeks, during a sanguinary engagement with them near Constantinople in the year 1204, they gained by means of it a complete victory. — Spondanus, Annals ann. 1204. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; http://www.bethlehemobserver.com)
Our Lady of Victory / Victories. Lepanto. Hungary. 1716. [See October 7 for details] (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm); (http://www/divinewill.org/feastofourlady.htm); (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment