We are preparing to begin Holy Week, so called because it contains all the treasures of grace of the Redemption of Jesus, who gave us life.
We want to enter into the Paschal Mystery and accompany the Lord through prayer, lectio divina, listening to and meditating on his Word, especially his Passion. Our Order is living this week in retreat; we will therefore have more time for prayer, silence, and solitude. We must feel responsible for taking advantage of this gift in response to the Lord, to thank and glorify him, and in response to the Church, which expects especially from us, as contemplatives, the service of intercession for humanity that we must carry out and support.
The way of contemplating the Lord’s Passion at the Visitation finds its inspiration in Treatise Love of God 5 , ch. 4 and 5. It is the love of compassion, condolence or commiseration, which urges Jesus to draw all our miseries to his Heart to make them his own. And it is also compassion which draws to our souls the cross, the nails, the thorns and the very death of Jesus. Saint Francis de Sales also emphasizes a very particular aspect which is the freedom of Jesus in his Passion. In TLG 10, ch. 17: “This divine Lover died in the flames and ardors of love, because of the infinite charity he had for us and by the strength and virtue of love […] But it was by election and not by the force of evil that he died: No one can take my life from me: I lay it down of my own free will. I have the power to lay it down and to take it back. This is the command I received from my Father (Jn 10:18). He was offered up , says Isaiah, because he wanted it.” There is a succession of acts that express a precious freedom that is given up by love. “He died in love, by love, for love and of love.” In every gesture, in every step that Jesus wills to take this week, I can see his Heart that chooses me and freely prefers me out of love.
Living the cross
To experience the Paschal Mystery, in addition to contemplation, let us add some practical elements. I suggest you reflect on our daily crosses. In Matthew 10:38, Jesus tells us: “Whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” The name cross should not make us think of great sacrifices or sufferings that occur only infrequently. Rather, it refers to those ordinary, everyday inconveniences or troubles that are invariable in every life and are linked to our state of life and the fulfillment of our duties. Sometimes it is easier to accept, in a burst of generosity, these great crosses that are offered to us once by chance, than these small sufferings that recur every day, always in the same form, with the same intensity and insistence, in unchanging situations. These are physical ailments, poor health, fatigue, overload of work or worries, lack of time, and unforeseen events. There are also moral sufferings arising from the divergence of opinions, the opposition of characters, the misunderstandings, etc. All this constitutes this concrete and real cross that Jesus presents to us every day. I emphasize this aspect: that Jesus presents to us every day. It is only this look, this presence and this awareness that will be able to open our hearts to the trust to welcome the cross. A humble daily cross, which does not require great heroism, but before which we must renew each day our: “Yes, Father, for such has been your good pleasure.”
(Mt 11:26). Before every cross, I remain free, like Jesus. Not free to have it or not to have it, but free to accept it or reject it.
It is actually an honor to call our small sufferings “crosses.” It was Jesus who taught us to do this. He wants our daily sufferings not to be sterile but to become crosses, that is, an instrument of glorification of God, of elevation for us, of growth, of salvation for all humanity. And, in fact, all my sufferings, however small they may be, all of them, even the most minimal, have been predisposed by God, from all eternity for my good. (3rd article of the Directory)
We listened to a beautiful teaching on the Holy Hour: “From the Holy Hour to the entire holy life.” Offer Jesus a “holy week” by welcoming wholeheartedly, in the peace of a soul that wants to please its Lord, all the little crosses of this week, without rejecting any. Let them penetrate us and do their hidden work there. Let us embrace them with love as we would embrace Jesus with love if we saw him. This will be our way of uniting ourselves to his Passion. The adoration of the cross that we will make on Good Friday will not be an isolated gesture of devotion, but a commitment of our heart. This gesture will synthesize the reception of all the crosses of the week that wants to be holy, that is, sanctified by the patience of our daily “yes. ” Jesus will be pleased and that on Easter Sunday we will rise with Him.
Source: Annecy Visitation Monastery