Under the Weight of the Wood

This is the third in a series of Lenten reflections.

Today is Good Friday.  It was this day that all humanity was restored to the divine life of Paradise.  For this reason it is "good."  But it is also a somber day.  Our redemption came at a great price: the life of Our Savior.  I am reminded of the song Lord, Let Me Walk by Jack Miffleton that we sang during Lent when I was in grade school.  (find  lyrics here)

How ironic is the refrain:  "Freedom can be found, laden down, under the weight of the wood."  By His death, we have new life!  Original sin no longer chains us down, but we are now able to live as we were intended before the Fall.  We normally think of death as an ending and therefore having no power, but Christ's death and Resurrection opened Heaven's gate for eternal life. We have the power to form our lives to grow in truth and holiness.  Paragraph 1733 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church states that "the more one does what is good, the freer one becomes. There is no true freedom except in the service of what is good and just. The choice to disobey and do evil is an abuse of freedom and leads to "the slavery of sin."

 Jesus told His Apostles, that "no one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends."  (John 15:13)  Christ shows us our vocations as persons by giving Himself on the Cross.  He obeyed the will of the Father for our salvation, despite the sacrifice He knew it would be.  "Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me: still, not my will but yours be done." (Luke 22:42)  Our Lord suffered and died of His own free will.  "I lay down my life that I may take it again.  No man taketh it away from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. . ."  (John 10:18)  He chose to suffer and die this ignominious death not only to show us the horror of sin, but to show His love for us.  Only by gazing at the cross, do we learn the divine lesson that the way of the Cross is the only way for victory over sin.

Likewise, Pope John Paul II says that "man finds himself only when he makes a sincere gift of himself to others."  (Pope John Paul II-Gaudium et Spes, 24)  [True] love is self-giving and for the good of the other person. Yes, our inclination to sin still remains, but Jesus gave us the map to Heaven.  "If any man wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me."  (Luke 9:23)  This is the only way to true love, the only way to true happiness, the only way to a reward in Heaven.  "Freedom can be found, laden down, under the weight of the wood." 

Behold, the wood of the cross, on which is hung our salvation.  O come, let us adore.  

The Lesson of Meekness

This is a second in a series of Lenten reflections.  Today I have chosen the first chapter of Bishop Fulton J. Sheen's book, The Cross and Beatitudes.  Each chapter looks at a beatitude given us by Jesus on the Sermon on the Mount as well as one of the last Seven Words of Jesus on the Cross. 

First Beatitude

 Blessed are the meek: for they shall posses the land.

First of the Seven Last Words of Jesus

 Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.  

After reading the two above phrases of Jesus and reflecting on them for only a short while, one can say they are not "of" this world.  It is hard to understand how a meek person can take possession of much of anything.  Or it is difficult to imagine forgiving ones persecutors while they are in the very act of killing you.  But in the light of knowing who we are and what we are made for, these are the very possessions (meekness and forgiveness) that are needed for our journey to Heaven.  Jesus taught and demonstrated these virtues to show us the path to Him. 

 Bishop Sheen explains the world as not blessing the meek, "but the vindictive; it praises not the one who turns the other cheek, but the one who renders evil for evil; it exalts not the humble, but the aggressive."  But meekness is not weakness.  It is not an easy going temperament or one who is easily submissive. "Meekness is", as Sheen writes, "self-possession.  That is why the reward of meekness is possession (of the earth)."

The dictionary defines meek as "showing patience and humility; gentle."  Jesus, like a silent lamb led to its slaughter, shows His greatest act of humility in His Passion.  He did not grant the taunting thief on His left the request to save them from their imminent deaths.  In fact, He accepted the will of His Father to save US from OUR sins while praying for the very ones who scourged, spit, mocked, crowned, and nailed Him to the cross.  Every time I sin, it is my nail that pierces His hands; His feet.  My pride slashes open the wounds of His back and drives deep the thorns upon His head.

Pride, considered the root of all sin, is an inordinate desire for our own excellence. We make ourselves the center of the universe, pushing God and His authority to the side or completely out the window.  St. Thomas wrote that "all sin proceeds from self-love for we never commit sin without coveting some gratification of self." The world tells us to please ourselves.  Christianity tells us to take up our cross and deny ourselves.  "We are to turn the world upside down", says Sheen.  Like Christ, "we are to pray for those who nail us to a cross.  We are to love our enemies, which means hating ourselves."

 For me, it's easy to find pride creeping into my life.  Recently when asked what I did for a living, I was referred to as "just a stay-at-home mom."  I emphasize "just" because that is the word I focused on.  A meek version of myself would have smiled (inside and out) in wholehearted agreement that being at home with my children is my job/vocation with everything it entails.  I would like, however, to give you a quick synopsis of what lingered in my head that day:

JUST a stay-at-home mom!?!  I'm sure there is some dignified title you could give me.  Can I just tell you what I've done today?  After getting the kids ready for the day and making breakfast, I made yogurt-from scratch, made pudding for dessert-from scratch, did the dishes, hung laundry on the line, cleaned and organized under the bathroom sink, and pulled weeds in the strawberries for an hour-all BEFORE lunch.  And the list goes on:   


alarm clock
pediatrician: took care of a teething toddler's sore behind
referee: separated 2 fighting siblings
teacher: taught review lesson on the seasons using the new leaves of the strawberries 
maid

I could go on, but eventually my conscience got the better of me and meekness peeked from behind the clouds of pride:

Mmm hmm.  And at what time did you get out of your pjs?  You didn't get morning prayers said with the kids and you spent too much time of Facebook.  Imagine the possibilities!  And don't forget in marriage you vowed to surrender your freedom to serve  this one person, to do what's best for your marriage and for the children that come from it.  You wanted, if God was willing, to JUST stay home with the children because you believed it was the best thing for them.  

 Bishop Sheen states that "the meek person is not one who refuses to fight, nor someone who will never become angry.  A meek person is someone who will never do one thing: he will never fight when his conceit is attacked, but only when a principle is at stake." No, there was no smack down, drag-out fight that day, but there definitely was something happening inside of me.  In that moment, I could have chosen to pray to know the difference as to whether I needed to mimic Jesus and ask the Father to forgive them or if it was something I should have stood up against and voiced the truth.  At that moment, my vocation or what I did for a living was not attacked; my pride was humbled and my ego challenged.  My life nor my liberty were at stake, just my self-esteem.  I could have been meek and therefore would have been in complete control (possession) of myself and my pride would not have run away with me.

No matter what our vocation in life may be, we are called to do our very best for God-even the smallest of things.  (It's hard to sin that way!)  When Michelangelo was spending a long time on a corner in the Sistine Chapel, the archbishop on the floor called up to him and asked, Why are you taking so much time up there?  Nobody is going to see it."  The artist replied, "God sees it."  Looking back, I can see God giving abundant opportunities to practice meekness.  Situations such as my experience are God's way of giving us a chance to grow in virtue.

In meekness and love, I can clean my child's face like Veronica wiped the face of Jesus.  In meekness, I can unite my sufferings with Jesus at the moment He was stripped of His garments when I am reminded of what I've had to give up for the sake of my vocation-a career, material possessions, recreation, hobbies, some friends, and time with other friends.  In meekness and love, I can stand by our Lord at the foot of the Cross like His Mother Mary, John and Mary Magdalene when times get tough and everyone else is no where to be seen.  Because God has given me the gift to stay at home and have such a close relationship with my family, I can better recognize their needs, desires, and struggles.  So like Simon of Cyrene, I can help one who is struggling with their Cross and carry it for a ways.

Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make our hearts like unto thine!