A Resolution for These First Days of Lent at Work
We're now in the first days of Lent. Let's begin this Holy Season with a simple resolution: We want to do our best to keep the spirit of Lent in our daily work. For many of us that's easier said than done - particularly when it comes to our daily labor, especially if you've got the sort of job that puts relentless demands on your time and attention.
While it's not easy, the mere fact that it will take a strong act of will to keep our Lenten spirit during our work days should be the sort of challenge you'd want to embrace, shouldn't it? There's merit to be had in such an effort. Our Lord will take notice. And some day, that effort will be rewarded - if not in this life, surely in the next. OK, with that little shot of motivation, let's continue what we started last time.
If you recall, we'll be on a journey with Our Lord during Lent. We'll do that by posting the Stations of the Cross, one at a time, using St. Alphonsus Liguori as our guide. (Click HERE for a complete pdf of St. Alphonsus's version of the Stations of the Cross.) We began last time with the first Station: Jesus is condemned to death. Today we move on.
Station 2: Jesus bears His cross
St. Alphonsus writes:
Consider how Jesus, in making this journey with the Cross on His shoulders thought of us, and for us offered to His Father the death He was about to undergo.
My most beloved Jesus, I embrace all the tribulations Thou hast destined for me until death. I beseech Thee, by the merits of the pain Thou didst suffer in carrying Thy Cross, to give me the necessary help to carry mine with perfect patience and resignation. I love Thee, Jesus my love; I repent of having offended Thee. Never permit me to separate myself from Thee again. Grant that I may love Thee always; and then do with me what Thou wilt.
Relating this to our work day:
First, consider the resolution we suggested previously: We want to do our best to keep the spirit of Lent in our daily work. Admittedly, this won't be easy for many of us. So now think about how Jesus "with the Cross on His shoulders thought of us." Doesn't this put any difficulty we might face in fulfilling our resolution in context? If you've never read about or meditated on the extreme suffering Our Lord endured in His Passion, consider doing so at some point this Lent. Carrying His Cross required a supreme effort just to simply put one foot in front of the other. And yet He though of us! Surely we can think of Him during our work day today.
In his prayer, St. Alphonsus Liguori reminds us ask Our Lord for the necessary help to bear our tribulations. If He could think of us during what was His "death march," tormented by extreme weakness and pain, you know He thinks of us constantly. And so He will be thinking of us when we beg His assistance to keep the Lenten spirit today during our work day. Knowing what we do about how He suffered for us, we should also know that His thoughts are imbued with the Infinite Love He embodied when He suffered and died for us.
We conclude today's thoughts with the simple, moving exhortation with which St. Alphonsus Liguori approaches each Station of the Cross:
While it's not easy, the mere fact that it will take a strong act of will to keep our Lenten spirit during our work days should be the sort of challenge you'd want to embrace, shouldn't it? There's merit to be had in such an effort. Our Lord will take notice. And some day, that effort will be rewarded - if not in this life, surely in the next. OK, with that little shot of motivation, let's continue what we started last time.
If you recall, we'll be on a journey with Our Lord during Lent. We'll do that by posting the Stations of the Cross, one at a time, using St. Alphonsus Liguori as our guide. (Click HERE for a complete pdf of St. Alphonsus's version of the Stations of the Cross.) We began last time with the first Station: Jesus is condemned to death. Today we move on.
Station 2: Jesus bears His cross
St. Alphonsus writes:
Consider how Jesus, in making this journey with the Cross on His shoulders thought of us, and for us offered to His Father the death He was about to undergo.
My most beloved Jesus, I embrace all the tribulations Thou hast destined for me until death. I beseech Thee, by the merits of the pain Thou didst suffer in carrying Thy Cross, to give me the necessary help to carry mine with perfect patience and resignation. I love Thee, Jesus my love; I repent of having offended Thee. Never permit me to separate myself from Thee again. Grant that I may love Thee always; and then do with me what Thou wilt.
Relating this to our work day:
First, consider the resolution we suggested previously: We want to do our best to keep the spirit of Lent in our daily work. Admittedly, this won't be easy for many of us. So now think about how Jesus "with the Cross on His shoulders thought of us." Doesn't this put any difficulty we might face in fulfilling our resolution in context? If you've never read about or meditated on the extreme suffering Our Lord endured in His Passion, consider doing so at some point this Lent. Carrying His Cross required a supreme effort just to simply put one foot in front of the other. And yet He though of us! Surely we can think of Him during our work day today.
In his prayer, St. Alphonsus Liguori reminds us ask Our Lord for the necessary help to bear our tribulations. If He could think of us during what was His "death march," tormented by extreme weakness and pain, you know He thinks of us constantly. And so He will be thinking of us when we beg His assistance to keep the Lenten spirit today during our work day. Knowing what we do about how He suffered for us, we should also know that His thoughts are imbued with the Infinite Love He embodied when He suffered and died for us.
We conclude today's thoughts with the simple, moving exhortation with which St. Alphonsus Liguori approaches each Station of the Cross:
We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee.
Because by Thy holy Cross, Thou has redeemed the world.
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