For Love of the Crucified
~ from Meditations
on the Passion of Our Lord, St. Alphonsus de Liguori
And in
truth, does it not seem folly that God who is Almighty and infinitely happy in
Himself should be willing of His own accord to be scourged, treated as a mock
king, buffeted, spat upon in the face, condemned as a malefactor, abandoned by
all and left to die on a Cross of shame to save miserable worms He Himself had
created?
Considering these things, the enamoured St. Francis, as he went
through the country, wept and exclaimed, ' Love is not loved! Love is not
loved! ' Hence St. Bonaventure said that he who wishes to persevere in loving
Jesus Christ should ever represent to himself his divine Lord hanging on the
Cross and dying for him: 'Let him ever have before the eyes of his heart Christ
dying on the Cross.
Oh! happy
the soul that frequently puts itself in spirit in the presence of Jesus dying
on the Cross, and remains there to contemplate with tender affection the pains
which Jesus suffered, and the love with which He offered Himself to His Father
as He lay agonizing on that bed of sorrow. Souls full of God's love, when hard
pressed by temptations of the devil, and by fears for their eternal salvation,
derive great comfort from considering in silence, and all alone, Jesus hanging
on the Cross and shedding blood from all His wounds. At the sight of Jesus
crucified all desire of the goods of this world leaves us, and there comes from
this Cross a breath of heavenly air which causes us to forget the things of
earth, and enkindles within us a desire to quit all in order to use the
affections of our hearts only to love that Lord Who was pleased to die for love
of us.
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