Physical sufferings: pain, illness, tiredness -- if borne for Christ become true treasures for us. This is the great revolution brought about by Christ. It can be understood only through prayer and with the light that faith gives. Therefore, pain be it physical or moral can truly be a treasure which unites us with Christ.
Do we know how to immediately and calmly offer to God those small mortifications which are foreseen and those which arise during the day? The contemplation of God will satisfy our longing for happiness. This consummation will take place when we wake up to reality. As St Paul comments, our life is like a dream (cf 1 Thess 4:14).
“My kingdom is not of this world”, the Lord had said. Thus, when He declared “I have come that you may have life: life in all its fulness” (Jn 10:10), he was not referring to an earthly life without difficulties; but to eternal life, which begins in the one we are now living. He came to free us from what prevents our reaching definitive happiness; from sin, the only absolute evil.
“If the Son sets you free then you will be truly free” (Jn 8:36), the Lord tells us. He also made it possible for us to overcome the effects of sin -- oppression, injustice, excessive economic differences, envy, hatred. Or to suffer them cheerfully when they are inevitable. Such is the value of the life that Christ has gained for us.
However, this does not mean that Christians should be passive amidst pain and injustice. On the contrary, out of charity and a desire for justice, we must remain committed to a more humane and just world, beginning in our homes and places of work; and always seeking above everything else the absolute good for man.
Christ paid for our freedom with his own life. Thus, he showed us the gravity of sin, the worth of our eternal salvation and the means to achieve it. “You have been bought at a great price, ... glorify God and carry him in your body.” (1 Cor 6:20) The Lord went that far precisely to show us his love, because no greater love has any man than that he “gives his life for his friends” (Jn 15:13).
How much do I value the life of grace Christ obtained for me on Calvary? Do I strive to increase this life of grace by frequenting the sacraments, through prayer, and good works? Do I avoid occasions of sin, resolutely struggling against sensuality, pride, laziness? “I tell you that whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.” (Jn 8:34)
Ref: Cf F Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 2:223-6
The Gospel of Suffering
The Redeemer himself wrote this Gospel, above all by his own suffering accepted in love, so that man “should not perish but have eternal life” (Jn 3:16). This suffering together with the living word of his teaching, became a rich source for all those who shared in Jesus’ sufferings among the first generation of his disciples and confessors, and among those who have come after them down the centuries.
It is especially consoling to note that at the side of Christ, in the first and most exalted place, there is always his Mother through the exemplary testimony that she bears ‘by her whole life’ to this particular Gospel of suffering. In her, the many and intense sufferings were amassed in such an interconnected way that they were not only a proof of her unshakeable faith but also a contribution to the redemption of all.
It was on Calvary that Mary’s suffering, beside the suffering Jesus, reached an intensity which can hardly be imagined from a human point of view; but which was mysterious and supernaturally fruitful for the redemption of the world. Her ascent of Calvary and her standing at the foot of the Cross together with the Beloved Disciple were a special sort of sharing in the redeeming death of her Son.
And the words which she heard from his lips were a kind of solemn handing-over of this Gospel of suffering so that it could be proclaimed to the whole community of believers.
Ref: Cf Pope John Paul II, Apostolic Letter, “Salvifici Doloris”, p52-3
The Christian meaning of death
Original sin brought with it the loss of friendship with God and the consequent loss of that gift of immortality. Death, “the wages of sin” (Rom 6:23), entered a world which had been created for living beings. At death, man loses everything he possessed in life. The opportunity to acquire merit for eternal life ends with death. “Night comes when no one can work.” (Jn 9:4)
Death has been finally conquered with the Resurrection of Christ. Man is no longer a slave to death, but now has dominion over death, if he so chooses. (cf 1 Cor 15:54-8) We achieve this sovereignty insofar as we are united to him who holds “the keys of death” (Rev 1:18). Sin is the true death -- the soul separated from God.
The moment of death is difficult for every creature. But ever since the Redemption wrought by Christ, death has for us assumed a completely different meaning. No longer a just punishment for sin; but the culmination of our abandonment into the hands of our Redeemer, the passage to a new life of eternal happiness.
Ref: Cf Francis Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 3:412-5
THE SEVEN SUNDAYS DEVOTION TO ST. JOSEPH -- Honors the seven joys and seven sorrows of St Joseph. (“Handbook of Prayers”, Fr Charles Belmonte and Fr James Socias [Eds], 1988, pp321-3)
“What must Joseph have been, how grace must have worked through him, that he should be able to fulfill this task of the human upbringing of the Son of God.
“For Jesus must have resembled Joseph: in his way of working, in the features of his character, in his way of speaking. Jesus’ realism, his eye for detail, the way he sat at table and broke bread, his preference for using everyday situations to give doctrine -- all this reflects his childhood and the influence of Joseph.
“It’s not possible to ignore this sublime mystery: Jesus who is man, who speaks with the accent of a particular district of Israel, who resembles a carpenter called Joseph, is the Son of God.”
Ref: St Josemaria Escrivà, “In Joseph’s Workshop” in “Christ is passing by”, 40
The sixth sorrow and joy of St Joseph -- His sorrow when he was afraid to return to his homeland; his joy on being told by the angel to go to Nazareth.
“There he settled in a town called Nazareth. In this way the words spoken through the prophets were to be fulfilled: He will be called a Nazarene.” (Mt 2:23)
“Joseph loved Jesus as a father loves his son and showed his love by giving him the best he had. Joseph, caring for the child as he had been commanded, made Jesus a craftsman, transmitting his own professional skill to him. Jesus worked in Joseph’s workshop and by Joseph’s side.”
Ref: St Josemaria Escrivà, “In Joseph’s Workshop” in “Christ is passing by”, 54
• Our Lady of Nazareth, at Black Rock, in Portugal. This image was honored at Nazareth in the time of the apostles, if we may believe a writing, which was found by a hunter, attached to this image in the year 1150. — Triple Couronne, n. 13. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; www.bethlehemobserver.com)
• Our Lady of Nazareth (‘Pierre-Noire’, Portugal). (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html)
• Our Lady of Nazareth (‘Pierre Noire’, Portugal, 1150). (www/divinewill.org/feastofourlady.htm); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html)
• “Nossa Senhora do Nazareth”. ‘Pierre-Noire’, Portugal. 1150. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)
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