The Apostles could not watch one hour with their suffering Lord. Their spirit was good, but their flesh was weak. For this reason He seemed to condone their failure to keep Him company. How like to them we often are! We find it so hard to keep our minds on our few brief prayers, to spend a little time in church hearing Mass or attending some devotions; but what long hours do we gladly spend in recreation and amusements, sometimes harmful diversions — and so frequently! What was worse, however, was that when the crisis of the Saviour’s agony came, all the Apostles fled away and left Him alone in the hands of His enemies. That would seem to show how little they really loved Him. Real love is stronger than death; self-denial, self-sacrifice is a test and proof of it. We can know how much we love a person by how much we are willing to do and to suffer for that person.
Oh, if we could only love and long for God and spiritual things as we do for poor creatures and temporal, fleshly things! How happy and peaceful would then be our lives! For this we must pray and strive to our last breath, regardless of the progress we seem to make or the lack of it. We were made for love-complete, enduring, satisfying love; and for love we yearn. With it, we shall be forever happy; without it, forever miserable. Only God can provide such love, and that He will do, if we but work together with Him for its attainment. God made our nature and gave us our longings of heart and soul, and He is and must be prepared to satisfy them.
Of course, we must observe that if we had such a yearning for God and spiritual things as we naturally have for creatures and the goods of the body there would not be much sign of virtue in our seeking; we should then be serving our natural inclinations and ourselves rather than God. Virtue means strength, and so virtuous actions are those which require strength, effort on our part.
Charles J. Callan, OP and John F. McConnell, MM
Spiritual Riches of the Rosary
