Saturday, December 23, 2006
The Cross
Fr. Marcial Maciel, LC: From the letter of February 17, 1981
Not every calling has the same degree of difficulty and demands, though all are arduous and difficult. This makes them the path to God and they are the Cross that each one has to shoulder, whether it is to his liking or not and whether he accepts it or not. And those vocations that present higher and more spiritual ideals are the most strenuous and demanding of all, since they ask of us more love and self-giving, which are purely spiritual values.
Christ tells us in the Gospel that the path that leads to life is narrow and therefore hard on our nature, since it offers a clearly spiritual program: interior conversion, renouncing sin, striving for holiness, a life of sacrifice, service to your neighbor, humility, etc. All of which goes against our passions of pride, ambition and sensuality. Consequently, the vocations that incorporate these ideals into their dynamic logically appear more demanding to us.
...
The only barrier to living it authentically and generously is ourselves we, with our desire for a more comfortable, less complicated life we can call more our own, because we are oblivious that God will ask us one day, What have you done with the gifts and graces I gave you? And on our answer hangs our eternal destiny.
And so I recommend you to be very honest with yourself. Make good choices, and live honestly in accordance with the choice you have made. If you want to live with Christ and for his Kingdom the only way to do so is with the cross.
Not every calling has the same degree of difficulty and demands, though all are arduous and difficult. This makes them the path to God and they are the Cross that each one has to shoulder, whether it is to his liking or not and whether he accepts it or not. And those vocations that present higher and more spiritual ideals are the most strenuous and demanding of all, since they ask of us more love and self-giving, which are purely spiritual values.
Christ tells us in the Gospel that the path that leads to life is narrow and therefore hard on our nature, since it offers a clearly spiritual program: interior conversion, renouncing sin, striving for holiness, a life of sacrifice, service to your neighbor, humility, etc. All of which goes against our passions of pride, ambition and sensuality. Consequently, the vocations that incorporate these ideals into their dynamic logically appear more demanding to us.
...
The only barrier to living it authentically and generously is ourselves we, with our desire for a more comfortable, less complicated life we can call more our own, because we are oblivious that God will ask us one day, What have you done with the gifts and graces I gave you? And on our answer hangs our eternal destiny.
And so I recommend you to be very honest with yourself. Make good choices, and live honestly in accordance with the choice you have made. If you want to live with Christ and for his Kingdom the only way to do so is with the cross.
Labels: Priesthood, Vocation
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