+JMJ+
After Mass this morning, I was alone in the church, and because it is Lent and I can't attend the community celebration of this traditional devotion, I made the Stations of the Cross by myself. I have not done that in at least 35 years!
To be perfectly honest, I wanted it to mean more to me than it did at that time. Later on, I was looking at the crucifix on the wall in my room, and I asked Jesus to give me a deeper understanding of what His death on the Cross really meant: I understand that it was horribly painful, and that in the Catholic Faith, we believe that suffering is not meaningless if accepted in the right spirit-- but I still felt it must be about more than that.
This is not a profound observation by any means, but I think at its core, the significance of Christ's Crucifixion is really about obedience, not suffering: perfect obedience to His Father's will, despite the fact that obedience included acceptance of terrible physical pain and a sense of being abandoned.
We ourselves may never suffer physically in this life (although we probably will at some point), but what really matters is that we are obedient to His will, whatever that may be. Obedience in itself, though, can cause interior suffering, because we have to renounce our desire to have things our way, which can be very difficult--at least it is for me.
Please grant, dear Lord, that I may never refuse to do what You ask of me. +
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