A 20th Sunday after Pentecost Thought About Self-Immolation
Let's focus on self-immolation on this 20th Sunday after Pentecost.
No, it's not anything like that famous Buddhist monk who set himself on fire in protest of the government of South Vietnam during the Vietnam war of the 1960s and 1970s. But, still, it's not the most intuitively enticing subject to linger on during this our special, God-given day of rest.
So what do we mean by self-immolation here?
Well, we might think of it as the opposite or perhaps opposing force to self-centeredness. And we know that self-centeredness presents perhaps the biggest obstacle to our loving Jesus, never mind our loved ones, as we know we should.
So, Sunday, being the Lord's Day, really presents us with the perfect time to consider a way to clear the path to greater love of God. Make sense?
“Jesus wants to continue, in a special manner, His life and passion, in souls that are especially His. The more a soul loves, the more Jesus loves her in return, attracting her to Himself, identifying Himself with her, and expressing His own divine life in her. And the more a soul yields her whole being to Jesus, and accepts the chalice of her Master, so much the more will she desire to suffer, and to become a co-redemptrix. Finally, the more vehement this desire becomes, the more souls Jesus will save through her, and grant her influence over men and even the events of history. Sacrifice, lovingly accepted, in union with Jesus immolated, is the essence of the spiritual life of every soul, as it is the central point of the life of the Church, and the summing up of the life of Jesus. If this is so, my soul, can you refuse to love the cross, and to give yourself up to Jesus? One day St. Lutgarde was asking Jesus to allow her to die, so that she might soon be united with Him in Heaven. But Jesus appeared to her, covered with wounds, and stained with blood, and said to her: ‘Lutgarde, I beg of you, to help Me save sinners.’ We have eternity in which to enjoy God, but only a few years to suffer here and to sacrifice ourselves. Let us make the most of our opportunities, for the love we bear our God."
But lest we think that self-immolation entails extraordinary acts of penance and sacrifice, Father works out the details here. And, while requiring persistence and hard work, any of us can do this.
“Do not dread this prospect of a life of immolation. To be a victim with Jesus does not necessarily mean to be subject to great tribulations and extraordinary troubles. No; it means being always ready to accept from His hand the sweet and the bitter, the agreeable things and those that are disagreeable, health or sickness, consolation or interior suffering. To be a victim is to lend one’s self, by love, to all the desires of Jesus; to welcome, beforehand, any suffering, any interior grief or exterior annoyance, sickness, and any kind of death, at any moment. To be a victim is, finally, to immolate one’s self every day in a thousand different circumstances, events, disappointments, clashings of temperament and character, diversity of views and of appreciation. It is to be always satisfied with everything, always sweet and patient, always smiling, through love for the Great Victim, Who, when they ill-treated Him and when they immolated Him, opened not His mouth in complaint or justification. Every loving soul can and ought to be thus a victim of love, an extension of Jesus, a co-redemptrix. Oh! Religious soul! Your life in its simplicity is sublime! You have passed over entirely into the service of Jesus. Without suffering more than others, you are constantly being immolated by love. Without interruption you celebrate with the Eternal Priest the sacrifice of Calvary. Your life is a continual Mass, and your death will be the last blow, which will immolate the victim. Then for the victory! Resurrection and life will arise out of your grave for many sinners; and you, purified by your own sacrifice, will go to swell the number of the blessed whom St. John saw in Heaven, clothed in white garments, and bearing palm-branches in their hands.”
Something to consider on this 20th Sunday after Pentecost. If we haven't already committed to doing what needs doing to love Jesus as He deserves to be loved, it's time to get started. Don't you think?
Happy Sunday!
Comments