Passiontide At Work

We've entered Passiontide, the home stretch of Lent. On Sunday we tried to relate some of the meaning and purpose of Passiontide - the last two weeks of Lent. Our focus was on our relationship with Jesus. This week, we'll attempt to provide some encouragement to us busy Catholic men at work to remain recollected during this extraordinary time in the Liturgical Year. To do that we'll revisit something we posted two years ago during the first week of Passiontide. Here goes....

Under normal circumstances, our work can be so absorbing and all-encompassing that we hardly think of God throughout the day. We've addressed this many times over the years. Various suggestions may have helped us to carve out more time during the day for God. At the least, however, we all should be working for His greater glory. That alone - even if we cannot find even a few moments to directly speak to Him - will help us sanctify our work.

But now, as we work our way through Passiontide, maybe we can revisit keeping God present in our work. Our Lord is now in the final stage of his public life. It leads Him to Jerusalem. We know what He will endure for us once He arrives there for the last time. Some serious meditation on Jesus' journey to Jerusalem, anticipating His Passion and Death could provide some motivation here. 

While we know what He would endure, we should recall that He knew as well. And yet He continued on His journey. Even as the crowds hailed His entrance into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey, He knew that some of these same people would soon be howling for His Crucifixion. Still He continued.

His persistence in the face of the most extraordinary difficulty might encourage us to persist - at least during these days before Good Friday - in turning our hearts and minds to Him, no matter how busy we might be.

The following words from Father John Grou may also help us to recollect ourselves in the midst of our work. We are reminded that God never abandons us, never fails to give us the grace we need to face any of the myriad difficulties, suffering, and temptation that buffet us on any given day. Left to ourselves, we might fall and ultimately fail. But knowing He stands ready to catch our fall and correct our failures, we can both take solace and gain the confidence we need to pick ourselves up and start again.

“Listen to the words of St. Paul – it is to you he speaks: God is faithful, he says; He will not suffer you to be tempted above that which you are able to bear; but will, with the temptation, also make a way to escape, that you may be able to bear it. (1 Cor. 10: 13)

 “Weigh well these words, for they will fill you with consolation and confidence in the midst of the hardest trial. God is faithful: He owes it to Himself, He owes it to His own promises, He owes it to his love for you, to succor you in any danger that threatens your soul. His glory is interested in helping you, because sin is an offence against Himself. He knows that you can do nothing without Him, and that you will most certainly fall if He abandons you. If He failed you in these critical moments He would not be Himself. 

“He will not suffer you to be tempted above that which you are able to bear. The faithfulness of God towards us does not consist in delivering us from all temptation – for that would be to deprive Himself of His own glory, and to deprive us of the merit attached to the victory – but His faithfulness consists in never allowing the temptation to go beyond our strength to resist. God knows perfectly, and infinitely better than we do, what our strength really is, for we derive our strength solely from Him and His grace.” (Father John Grou, S.J., 1731-1803)

We've spent a lot of time trying to counter all the disruptions and distractions that have built up lately. These piled up on top of the whole C-Virus Mess, so in a way, they're over and above the usual portion. Since Our Lord already knows this, we have an opportunity to turn to Him in special ways at special times despite it all. And if we find the day flies by without having given Him those special moments during Passiontide, there's always tomorrow. Just ask for His help. He will hear and respond in a manner most beneficial for each of us, according to His plan for us.

We adore Thee O Christ and we bless Thee. Because by Thy Holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.