Among the crowd who followed Jesus, and who listened to him with very different dispositions from those of the hypocritical Pharisees, many show their desire to be numbered among his disciples. But must have been surprised when they heard the conditions that Jesus had laid down before they could be admitted!
The first was: “Whoever comes to me and hates not his father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters, cannot be my disciple” (Lk 14:25-6).
That is to say, if he cannot relinquish their friendship except that of God. If he has not the courage and determination to resist or even give them up. If they oppose the certain will of God in regard to a state of life.
Jesus Christ, then, righteously demands from us, who glory in being his disciples, that in all circumstances we give him the first place in our esteem and love as the Sovereign Good. That we be entirely detached from the world, and at least, keep our hearts free from any affection which may disturb our peace with him.
“If any man hate not his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.” (cf Lk 14:26) According to St Jerome, our Lord meant that we should be ready to sacrifice our life rather than lose the faith and grace of God. That we should hate and cast away from us all that could flatter our self-love and our senses, all that is capable of soiling our soul in the eyes of God.
‘To hate one’s self thus in time’, says St Augustine, ‘is to love one’s self in eternity’. The fulfilment of this second condition, so rigorously exacted by our Lord, evidently supposes two things:
First, great vigilance over all our senses and the most secret movements of our hearts; and second, a continual fight against the aspirations of our minds and the disorderly inclinations of our heart.
These words evidently suppose this: ‘The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent bear it away.’ Is it because we fail in this violence and this vigilance over ourselves that we are still so little dead to the world, and its lusts; such weak disciples of Jesus Christ?
Whosoever does not carry his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. This third condition is very easily understood.
To carry the cross after Jesus is to bear patiently for love of him all that wearies us; goes against our ideas, tastes, and habits. All that contradicts our temper, inclinations, customs. All that can cause us suffering of mind or body.
To carry the cross after Jesus is to ‘bear about in our bodies the mortification of Jesus’. It is to mortify ourselves continually in all things, so that, dead to the world and ourselves, we may live only to God.
Examine carefully how we stand as regards this spirit of mortification and this self-immolation. If we are animated by this spirit, our happiness is certain. If we are a stranger to it, we have everything to fear.
St Paul says this expressly: ‘They that are Christ’s have crucified their flesh with the vices and concupiscences ... If any man has not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his.’
Ref: Cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, pp655-7
Christian Poverty
Jesus did not glorify human want and misery. A person in material privation cannot live a truly human life.
“Poverty of the body”, wrote Lacordaire, “entails poverty of the soul ... The really poor man develops the instincts of an animal; under the preoccupation of his material needs, he forgets his origin and his end; he throws to the wind the divine life whose need is in him and his only care in the future is to force the earth to yield him the goods of eternity.”
St Thomas Aquinas taught that it is impossible for anyone to practice virtue if he does not possess a minimum of well-being. He did not prescribe the ‘necessary’ minimum material goods without which one would just die; he demanded the ‘well-being’ every person needs in order to have a dignified human life.
Development of the spirit, moral education and solicitude for one’s soul are denied to a person who is not freed from material necessity. Poverty, more than wealth, makes human beings materially minded.
Msgr. Chevrot commented that if he had to sum up in one phrase the behavior of Christians in the face of riches, he would opt for what St Paul wrote at the end of his remarkable life: “I know how to be poor and I know how to be rich too.” (Phil 4:12)
The great Apostle of the Gentiles elaborated saying: “I have been through my initiation and now I am ready for anything anywhere: full stomach or empty stomach, poverty or plenty. There is nothing I cannot master with the help of the One who gives me strength.” (Phil 4:12-3)
Msgr. Chevrot continued: “The Apostle takes the days as they come and turns each of them to account. If he gets enough, he does not disdain the gifts of fortune; he uses them in moderation and shares them joyfully with his brethren. If he is in want, he does not moan or grumble. He accepts privation as long as God judges it to be useful to his advancement as well as to his apostolate. He achieves this balance of soul through his trust in Jesus Christ.”
Ref: Cf Fr M Guzman, “Encounters with Christ”, 1990, pp72-3
Meditations on the Litany of Loreto
‘Gate of Heaven’ -- St Bonaventure declares, ‘no one can enter heaven unless by Mary, as through a door’. Our Queen says “My power is in Jerusalem.” (Ecclesiasticus 24:15) Richard of St Laurence adds: ‘Commanding what I will and introducing whom I will.’ I can obtain whatever I please for my clients and introduce all whom I please into paradise.
Hence, St Bonaventure writes, ‘those who enjoy the favor of Mary are recognized by the citizens of heaven; and those who bear her stamp, ie, have the grace to be her servants, are inscribed in the Book of Life’. For this reason, Bernardine de Bustis calls Mary ‘the Book of Life’, and says that whoever, by this devotion, is written in this book, is certain to be saved.
My Mother, in you do I repose my hope of eternal salvation. I love you; do save me; never allow a servant of yours who loves you to blaspheme you in hell.
Ref: “The Glories of Mary.” In “Documentation Service”, V:325-6
• Our Lady of the Underground, half a league from Grand Cairo. It is held by tradition that the Blessed Virgin lived for some years in this subterranean chapel. — Triple Couronne, n. 0. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; www.bethlehemobserver.com)
• Our Lady of the Underground / Our Lady of the Vault. Grand Cairo, Egypt. 12th Century. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm); (www/divinewill.org/feastsofourlady.html); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html); (www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/calendar/index.html); (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html)
• Our Lady of the Rock (Rocamadour, France). (www/mariedenazareth.com)
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