Reading: Mark 8: 31-33
from St. Louis du Montfort: The Love of Eternal Wisdom, #169
Reflection & Response:
I've watched The Passion several times, and the most recent time that I watched it (I think sometime during Lent last year), I remember the line spoken by one of the other thieves on the Via Dolorosa. He said, "why do you embrace your cross?" and like, makes fun of Jesus for embracing his cross!
Jesus, in his Infinite and Incarnate Wisdom, must have known that He would have to carry the burdens of His Passion. He probably knew all along, even as an infant. St. Louis du Montfort reflects that He embraced His cross and held it deep in His heart even as an infant.
And thus He had the rest of His earthly life to prepare for time when His hour would come.
And in that time, He arrived at a point of embracing His Cross.
Do I embrace Jesus' Cross? Am I afraid? Do I shy away from it because I know how much suffering it brings? Yet Jesus shows the way. He embraces the cross even unto death.
I ask for Mary's help in helping me have a genuine love for Jesus' cross.
Ad Jesum per Mariam,
- JD
