The Cross Catalyst: Turn Away From
The World
By: Eric Gajewski
Those who find their eyes fixated upon this world are in great danger.
The worldly do not think of the next world, death in general nor are
they interested in attempting to please God.
We know from the Word that a friend of this world is the enemy of God
therefore He grants the world a gift, the Cross. Without your daily Cross you would be
continually allured and deceived by the world. Without your daily Cross it would not be
possible for you to grow in Selfless Love.
The Cross is given as counter measure to the haughty self which so seeks
to ruin souls and yet we still complain over the least bit of suffering. Yea, the Cross is a Catalyst into the Divine
Life and yet men still want to remain living in the natural alone.
The worldly are too busy for
Crosses. One of the hallmark signs of
being in the "dark night" is this “slowing down” of one’s life. As the Cross gets heavier our feet get heavier and thus the whole world seems to slow. In the Book of Lamentations we find this slowing down and ultimately man is on found on “this
island”. We find him desolate. He hath turned
aside my paths, and hath broken me in pieces, he hath made me desolate. Lamentations 3:11 As I have stated modern man has built a false
city of security around him of which God is about to destroy. God has to take a man out of "his world" long
enough in so that He can get man reacquainted with what truly is
important. We need to grow in virtue and
thus in the same book of Lamentations we see the work of God in the soul. It is good to wait with silence for the
salvation of God. Lamentations 3:26 Modern man is used to getting his way fast
but in this purification process it shall come slow and deliberate. It will require much grace for the soul to advance in patience through this deafening silence awaiting upon the salvation from His God. But man must understand his place once again for he currently is found on the throne of his own heart.
Heavy
Crosses very hardened spines. So many
these days are stiff in their ways. They
do not want to hear Catholic truth anymore.
The rebellious and prideful are hardened unto their very backbones and thus
the Cross makes for a good remedy. The
more prideful one is the heavier the Cross that is gifted. The heavier the Cross the more it draws our
eyes downward away from this world so that we can see we are following in our
own selfish footprints. The Jews did not
want a Messiah upon the Cross they
wanted one to rule materially in this world which is why they have been
planning this world for their new phony messiah to arrive on the scene
shortly. Crosses are meant to draw you
within so that your eyes may not be deceived by the false allurements of this
world any longer.
Nature
would dictate we run from the Cross.
Grace is required for this work within.
Those who do not want "the world to come" will try to run from their Cross
and stay in this one. Yet, Our Lord
makes it clear that He who wishes to save his life will lose it. He will not only lose his life here but he lose
it in the world to come. Self, is the 4th
enemy of the soul. We must be on guard
against it every minute of the day. We need
the Blessed Virgin Mary to be the guard at the door of our hearts. We need every grace we can get in order to
grow and expand in Selfless Love. Our
end goal is charity alone yet self has eyes which are big and that ultimately seek to draw in Lucifer’s
false light in this world.
Nailed to the Cross. Christ was so empty and void of self that He gave
His very Body even His Heart. What do
you give to Jesus daily? Do you seek to
be nailed to the Cross in His Love as well or are you only trying to do what
you think you can which is not very much outside of His grace. Are you nailed to the Cross so your eyes can
look upward for help? Or does the very
notion of not being in control so repulse you that you remain fixated upon
"things". When the chastisements come men
as a whole will be thrown into this dark night and yet how will the majority
respond? Will they respond in grace and
see that it is necessary or will they “tap out” and concede unto despair. Or worse yet will the law of the jungle prevail universally in the world as we walk through blood stained streets? Sadly, I believe the suicide rates will only
skyrocket from here onward due to self.
In the end, quit viewing your daily Cross, no matter how big or small,
as a serpent and rather see it as your opportunity to grow within. We all need it and every soul in Purgatory
right now wished they had heard more writings like these to remind them. They missed out on these daily opportunities
but how will you respond? Their silent
screams call out into the night demanding the living “change” and yet the worldly
sleepwalk throughout the day not understanding that they already have hell
within. Spend more time daily analyzing
the opportunities you missed (as we all do miss them) so that you will recognize
these Crosses as they are occurring and embrace them. Let God lead the process, therefore, hand the
wheel over to God now and take the passenger seat. His Will be done!
