Elija Mission

1. Adoramus te Christe et benedicimus tibi (We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee)
2. Quia per Crucem tuam redemisti mundum (For by Thy holy cross Thou hast redeemed the world.)

The way of the Lord is unimaginably difficult! It was not only the physical suffering that tormented Him, but above all the weight of sin that He carried to the cross for us men. If a single sin weighs immensely on us until we have presented it to the Lord and received His forgiveness, how much more the countless faults of all mankind!

1. Adoramus te Christe et benedicimus tibi (We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee)
2. Quia per Crucem tuam redemisti mundum (For by Thy holy cross Thou hast redeemed the world.)

In Roman times, criminals were punished by crucifixion. It was a death of dishonour and shame. The condemned died by suffocation.

Jesus is not only condemned to crucifixion; He has to carry His own cross. They want to make a spectacle of Him for the people.

With today’s meditation I conclude this series which I began after the systematic reflections on the Gospel of St John in preparation for the great solemnity of Easter.

A brief recapitulation is in order to highlight the essentials. After this meditation, we will return to the accounts of the Lord’s death and burial in the Gospel of John.

The concept of ‘discretion’, which we have learned from the desert fathers and which means ‘discernment of spirits’ in ecclesiastical usage, has led us to look carefully at the situation in the Church and in the world and to apply it also to our spiritual life. In analysing the spiritual armour proposed in the Letter to the Ephesians, we have come to the conclusion that we must prepare ourselves for the spiritual combat, which goes beyond the personal sphere, especially when we consider the anti-Christian threats to the world and to the Church.

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This Lent we have set ourselves the task of being better disciples of the Lord, especially in the face of the great confusion that the Church is currently experiencing. The disciple has the task of proclaiming and glorifying his Lord. The essential content of this proclamation is found in Sacred Scripture and in the authentic teaching of the Church. This is the criterion that guides us, for as disciples we do not act in our own name but we were sent. It is not for us, therefore, to introduce our own ideas or contents which are alien to the Gospel and which would weaken the witness of Christ. It is also important that our lives be as consistent as possible with what we proclaim, so that our witness in word is not obscured by our way of life.

With these reflections we come to the end of these Lenten meditations. In the last days before Passion Sunday, I will take up the passages of St John’s Gospel that remain to be meditated on, with the exception of the resurrection stories, to which we will return after Easter.

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We are now in the fourth week of Lent and Passion Sunday is fast approaching. Everything is now focused on the commemoration of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour of humanity.

This series of Lenten meditations has led us to look closely at the current situation in the Church and in the world, and to draw the appropriate conclusions. One of them is to consciously engage in spiritual combat, not only to guard our own spiritual life, but also to assume, beyond the personal sphere, the place God has assigned to us in the ‘army of the Lamb’ and thus to serve the Kingdom of God.

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In the last two meditations we have considered the advice of the Desert Fathers to practise fasting and night vigils in order to reach union with God more quickly with an agile spirit. This guideline, applied with due moderation, is excellent advice for growing in the spiritual life and for effectively resisting the powers of evil. Read More