It is not only remarkable but astonishing that all during the tortures of the scourging, crowning with thorns, and the carrying of His cross, no word of complaint or resentment fell from Our Lord’s lips, no frown was seen on His sad but holy face. Surely He was “as a sheep being led to the slaughter, as a lamb dumb before his shearer, and he opened not his mouth” (Isaiah 53:7). Why was this, since He was human as well as divine? Love explains it all-love for His heavenly Father whose will He was doing, and love for His brethren of the human family for whose sins He was atoning. Love can stand anything; it endures all things, it outlasts all things, it is stronger than death. The reason we complain about our crosses and resent them is twofold: a) we lack a strong and vivid faith in the supernatural value of suffering patiently borne, and b) we lack a burning love of Him who suffered so much for us and of our human brethren whom we should love as ourselves.
We see every day what privations, hardships, and pain the children of this world are willing to endure for temporal rewards, for the mere fame and glory of reaching the poles of the earth, or of climbing the highest mountains, or of exploring the floors of oceans, or of winning in some contest, the prize for which may be but a fading garland. Is it not our shame, we who profess to be followers of Christ but who are willing to do so little and to suffer so little, even for the greatest rewards? We shall do well frequently to recall the words of the Master Himself: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke IX. 23).
Charles J. Callan, OP and John F. McConnell, MM
Spiritual Riches of the Rosary
