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nuntym
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I am making this post basically for myself, a post I can go back to anytime while I am on the internet and I have need of spiritual strength. However, anyone is free to read this (as it is on a public forum) and words of prayer, encouragement and advice will be gratefully appreciated.
All the science of the Saints is included in these two things: To do, and to suffer. And whoever had done these two things best, has made himself most saintly. – St. Francis de Sales
Upon reading the article The Eucharist and Peace, I realized that until that time I had a poor understanding of redemptive suffering. I had thought that just suffering in itself is enough; in fact, in following Jesus’ invitation to deny one’s self, carry up one’s cross, and follow Him, I would have to crucify myself two times: I have to crucify myself in doing, as well as in suffering, which was what St. Francis de Sales (quoted above) trying to say, and what St. Paul actually was saying in his Epistles.
The best image that I could think of is the crucifixion of the two thieves alongside Christ on Golgotha.
Traditionally, the thief on Christ’s left is the unrepentant thief. This, in the imagery that I am using, is the “old self,” our sinful nature, our weaknesses, our fears:
For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the sinful body might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For he who has died is freed from sin. But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. For we know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. The death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:5-11)
But how do we crucify our “old self”? St. Paul continues:
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions…Do you not know that if you yield yourselves to any one as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. (Romans 6:12, 16-18)
We have to be obedient, we have to do the will of God. So this is the first crucifixion: doing the will of God.
I found that the best way to do this is having knowledge of the Word of God and quoting or reminding me of it to myself whenever I have to do something, and obeying it. For example, when I want to pray but do not want to I remember how Jesus prayed all night all the time. When I have to do something but I am afraid to do it, I remember what Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue upon hearing the death of his daughter: “Do not fear, only believe.” (Mark 5:36) When I feel lazy to do something well, I remember that Jesus did “all things well” (Mark 7:37). When I feel temptations, I remember the particular commandment in the Decalogue and even Jesus’ supplementation to it in the Sermon on the Mount.
So in the first crucifixion, the man crucified is our old sinful self, and the cross is the Will and Word of God.
Traditionally the Good, Repentant Thief, St. Dismas, was on Christ’s right. In my imagery, he is our new selves, the man resurrected in Baptism (Roman 6:4), and the cross is our sufferings in this world, including and especially when we did God’s will. St. Paul notes in probably the favorite passage from him by Catholics: “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh and I complete what is lacking in Christ’s affliction for the sake of his body, that is, the church” (Colossians 1:24). In this crucifixion, we suffer the pains of life so that we can say to Jesus, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (Luke 23:42).
The thing is, this second crucifixion is the one we understand as “redemptive suffering.” But I realized in my life that this second crucifixion, this suffering, is hollow and probably even harmful when it is not coupled with the first crucifixion, for without the first, the suffering is not life giving.
As the article I first mentioned said:
Our Christian faith teaches that the Cross is the Tree of Life—the tree that Adam and Eve where forbidden to eat from, lest they eat and live for ever. Now in Christ man is called to partake of that tree and reap the effect of its fruit: life! “I have come that you may have life, and have it to the full!” Jesus preaches. In Christ the Cross has been revealed as the Tree of Life. Those who eat from this tree will live forever.
…If the suffering we endure does not bring us to a deeper love of God and neighbor, does not nourish our faith, hope, and love,** it may be a cross, indeed, but not the Cross of Christ, for Calvary’s cross is inherently life-giving.**
The Eucharist and Peace, emphases mine
So in the second crucifixion the one crucified is our new selves, and the cross is the pains of this world.
If there are any parts that are not clear, I will be glad to explain them.
God bless us all.
I am making this post basically for myself, a post I can go back to anytime while I am on the internet and I have need of spiritual strength. However, anyone is free to read this (as it is on a public forum) and words of prayer, encouragement and advice will be gratefully appreciated.
All the science of the Saints is included in these two things: To do, and to suffer. And whoever had done these two things best, has made himself most saintly. – St. Francis de Sales
Upon reading the article The Eucharist and Peace, I realized that until that time I had a poor understanding of redemptive suffering. I had thought that just suffering in itself is enough; in fact, in following Jesus’ invitation to deny one’s self, carry up one’s cross, and follow Him, I would have to crucify myself two times: I have to crucify myself in doing, as well as in suffering, which was what St. Francis de Sales (quoted above) trying to say, and what St. Paul actually was saying in his Epistles.
The best image that I could think of is the crucifixion of the two thieves alongside Christ on Golgotha.
Traditionally, the thief on Christ’s left is the unrepentant thief. This, in the imagery that I am using, is the “old self,” our sinful nature, our weaknesses, our fears:
For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the sinful body might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For he who has died is freed from sin. But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. For we know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. The death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:5-11)
But how do we crucify our “old self”? St. Paul continues:
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions…Do you not know that if you yield yourselves to any one as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. (Romans 6:12, 16-18)
We have to be obedient, we have to do the will of God. So this is the first crucifixion: doing the will of God.
I found that the best way to do this is having knowledge of the Word of God and quoting or reminding me of it to myself whenever I have to do something, and obeying it. For example, when I want to pray but do not want to I remember how Jesus prayed all night all the time. When I have to do something but I am afraid to do it, I remember what Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue upon hearing the death of his daughter: “Do not fear, only believe.” (Mark 5:36) When I feel lazy to do something well, I remember that Jesus did “all things well” (Mark 7:37). When I feel temptations, I remember the particular commandment in the Decalogue and even Jesus’ supplementation to it in the Sermon on the Mount.
So in the first crucifixion, the man crucified is our old sinful self, and the cross is the Will and Word of God.
Traditionally the Good, Repentant Thief, St. Dismas, was on Christ’s right. In my imagery, he is our new selves, the man resurrected in Baptism (Roman 6:4), and the cross is our sufferings in this world, including and especially when we did God’s will. St. Paul notes in probably the favorite passage from him by Catholics: “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh and I complete what is lacking in Christ’s affliction for the sake of his body, that is, the church” (Colossians 1:24). In this crucifixion, we suffer the pains of life so that we can say to Jesus, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (Luke 23:42).
The thing is, this second crucifixion is the one we understand as “redemptive suffering.” But I realized in my life that this second crucifixion, this suffering, is hollow and probably even harmful when it is not coupled with the first crucifixion, for without the first, the suffering is not life giving.
As the article I first mentioned said:
Our Christian faith teaches that the Cross is the Tree of Life—the tree that Adam and Eve where forbidden to eat from, lest they eat and live for ever. Now in Christ man is called to partake of that tree and reap the effect of its fruit: life! “I have come that you may have life, and have it to the full!” Jesus preaches. In Christ the Cross has been revealed as the Tree of Life. Those who eat from this tree will live forever.
…If the suffering we endure does not bring us to a deeper love of God and neighbor, does not nourish our faith, hope, and love,** it may be a cross, indeed, but not the Cross of Christ, for Calvary’s cross is inherently life-giving.**
The Eucharist and Peace, emphases mine
So in the second crucifixion the one crucified is our new selves, and the cross is the pains of this world.
If there are any parts that are not clear, I will be glad to explain them.
God bless us all.