Nov. 17, 2010 Wednesday: Daily Homily "Jesus' Internal Cross"
The following is an excerpt from "What is Jesus Like" by Concepcion Cabrera de Armida (Conchita)
Ch. 28: "His Internal Cross"
If Jesus was all love, He was also all suffering. He longed "to be baptized with a baptism of blood" (cf. Lk 12:50). His external cross was a relief, or rest, compared to the interior suffering of His Heart that crucified Him. From the moment of His Incarnation, this inner cross oppressed Him and throughout His life, the thorns of human ingratitude pierced Him.
Jesus kept those sufferings hidden and veiled. He smiled, worked and preached, but He hid His interior suffering (which Mary surmised), which He offered as the purest incense to His Father in all the instances of His life. The martyrdoms that tortured Him interiorly are neither taken into account nor are they appreciated.
That little cross, which we contemplate driven into the upper portion of Jesus' Heart, represents to us the most exquisite pain and a pain without relief. It is only in His prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane that He allows us a vague idea of the torture which, during His entire life, tore His innocent Heart to shreds.
Water and blood gushed forth from this Inner Sanctuary of Love to purify and save me. Jesus was willing to be left without blood, but not without me. He opened the Fountain of Life so that my lips might drink and my soul might inebriate itself with purity and sanctity with this Wine that brings forth virgins.
Have I at least been grateful for these internal sufferings? Do I love them? Do I honor them? Do I meditate upon them? Do I make them known? Do I ask for them and do I embrace them in order to console Jesus?
If Jesus was all love, He was also all suffering. He longed "to be baptized with a baptism of blood" (cf. Lk 12:50). His external cross was a relief, or rest, compared to the interior suffering of His Heart that crucified Him. From the moment of His Incarnation, this inner cross oppressed Him and throughout His life, the thorns of human ingratitude pierced Him.
Jesus kept those sufferings hidden and veiled. He smiled, worked and preached, but He hid His interior suffering (which Mary surmised), which He offered as the purest incense to His Father in all the instances of His life. The martyrdoms that tortured Him interiorly are neither taken into account nor are they appreciated.
That little cross, which we contemplate driven into the upper portion of Jesus' Heart, represents to us the most exquisite pain and a pain without relief. It is only in His prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane that He allows us a vague idea of the torture which, during His entire life, tore His innocent Heart to shreds.
Water and blood gushed forth from this Inner Sanctuary of Love to purify and save me. Jesus was willing to be left without blood, but not without me. He opened the Fountain of Life so that my lips might drink and my soul might inebriate itself with purity and sanctity with this Wine that brings forth virgins.
Have I at least been grateful for these internal sufferings? Do I love them? Do I honor them? Do I meditate upon them? Do I make them known? Do I ask for them and do I embrace them in order to console Jesus?
