The Challenge of Curcifixion

Christ has said that those who want to win heaven must deny themselves, must take up their cross daily and follow Him. This following of Christ - where does it lead? it leads to a crucifixion that can sanctify us very quickly and enable us to help others on the way to salvation. Pius XII has said very strongly "... we (the faithful) must undergo with Christ a mystical death on the cross so that we can apply to ourselves the words of St. Paul - 'With Christ I am nailed to the cross.'"
This crucifixion is not a station of the cross to be merely looked at or meditated upon - it mus be experiences. We know well enough what crucifixion meant for Christ. What can it be for us in this modern civilization? In this day and age if can mean that, believing in God's love, we allow ourselves to be willingly placed by providence in an arranged situation or trial, where we are as unable to help or defend ourselves or to remedy the situation as Christ allowed Himself to be on the cross. It can be having our heart broken, letting our own will and its plans vanish, so that it can be remade into a likeness of Christ's own Heart, through which life and love flow.
This rules out self-determination, the modern defense mechanism against God's persistent pursuit of us. If we are to be guided by the Holy Spirit we must present Him with a person willing to be guided. This is hard to come by unless we receive the grace necessary to humble ourselves to a real experience of our very nothingness.
Christ's victory of redemption was accomplished in most part by His passion in the garden. He had allowed Himself to be placed in such a situation that the psychological pressure an His human soul to adhere to His own divine Will was beyond our imaginings. This type of suffering can be ours in varying degrees. If the terminal work of our purification, usually reserved for Purgatory, is applied to us in this life, it can lead to a very potent encounter with Christ and strongly point us to the heights. To attain such a reorientation in such a relatively short time requires a special set-up. We are put under the extreme pressure of adverse circumstances specifically designed to make us accept freely what is happening to us. It can be a real wound of crucifixion. The process is somewhat similar to pressure applied to a glued wood joint, over a period of time, to form a solid bond. The suffering entailed can be so penetrating that it seems to destroy us, yet it an be the short cut that leads to His presence and ability to do redemptive work. When die pressure is removed you may be in the region of beginning contemplation.
St. Paul's conversion shows what can happen when there is full cooperation with grace - when God speaks to the soul in unmistakable accents, with a proper response. Before his conversion his spiritual activity was simply tremendous, but he was doing no supernatural work - in fact he was destroying God's work. During those few moments of God's special action he was almost inert physically, but his will's acceptance of God's desires was such a concatenation of grace that he was thoroughly reoriented. If he had qualified his acceptance by distracting thoughts about his future, the result would have been impaired. Note that he accepted the situation as it was presented and gave God full permission to act. This incident in his life merits deep study.
Let us now conjecture what might happen if a person were, in God's providence to cooperate with grace and desire to give himself very generously to the work of saving souls. (A total gift of self, a deep commitment in fully embracing God's will.) We have said that supernatural activity over a period of time is supernatural work, that is, it has supernatural value.His lifetime would provide a definite supernatural result. If God took hi at his word, He could arrange to have him produce this lifetime output in a few years. The remaining years would then be at an increased output which could be applied to others.Of course, the process would entail suffering - crucifixion probably - because the whole personality would be changed. (See what a different man Paul was from Saul.)
He wold probably be very conscious of God's power working in him, the psychological pressures effecting their end. With victory would come Christ's mind as his own. The great end result could be that he would be enabled to love God so much, do His will so perfectly, be so completely His instrument as a channel of grace that divine providential love would be able freely to flow over the whole world and so neutralize the prevalent hate and evil; that other persons would be affected by the leaven so such an extent that the Heart of Christ would be consoled an He would have pity on us poor sinners.

The Healing Flame of Love

Have you been disappointed in love? Alas, many people have. Even the great Saint Teresa complained that God had few friends because He treated them so roughly. (I'll bet she paid for this!) Many are frustrated in their hopes and dreams of an ideal love; disillusioned after a few years of married life; still unsatisfied after the endless pursuit of the pleasure they call love.
But, if God is love, our natural idea of love must of necessity be elevated if we are to be oriented to an eternal life of love. To many in religion, "vocation" was a story of falling in love with God. What dreams of peace and great conquests of souls! Alas, after many years of struggling, the heights look too chilly for climbing; the discomfort of the effort is seemingly out of proportion to what we are to get out of it.
We had fallen in love with God, I say, but now He does not seem to give us a feeling of being loved in return. He does not seem to speak to us to answer either our questions or our pleas for help. He must have forgotten all about us or there would be more communication between us. So we kind of sulk and miss the great significance of encountering God in the staggering possibilities that grace presents to us at each moment.
But, Christ has said "Behold this Heart which loves men so much". Do we really believe this? If we did, our eyes would sparkle, our hearts would be aflame and love would flow from our fingertips. God does speak to us but we must study and watch closely if we are to learn His language.
I must learn to understand what God wants of me by effects - what happens when I do this, when I ask for that. I must strive to penetrate the arrangement of circumstances, to see in each situation a setup for perfect success - or perfect failure. No, He does not seem to speak to me, but He does, though communication is below the level of consciousness - and this is where faith comes in. Many times He uses people to give answers - to push you when you need a push, a kind word when you need help. (You may be the instrument to bring someone into line, so take care that it is done with charity). Faith puts Him right near me when I am disposed to notice Him.
There are fabulous graces available to a person disappointed in love, for one of the wounds of crucifixion is to the heart. Crucifixion is following Christ and the short cut to sanctity.

GOD HAS A PLAN

God does have a plan - to save each one of us and to save th world. My life is not just a hit-or-miss business; there is a way planned out for me that will bring me to heaven. This is for everyone. He does not argue with us if we choose to deviate, but He gives us plenty of signals to make us stop and listen to Him. Just look around and see (in the various kinds of suffering) how hard He has to hit, yet people still will not listen.
Let us start with the fact that here is sufficient grace for all men to be saved (Christ redeemed all men). Therefore there is enough potential supernatural (not merely spiritual) energy available to save the world, if it is put to work. (Work is energy applied over a period of time.) Note that the activity must be supernatural, that is, directed by the will to God. The way to put it to work is to cooperate with God's will, God's plan to save the world. A reservoir can be a potential supply of water for a city. It is a supply, if there is a pipeline.
The Church is God's plan for the world. He works in an orderly way. Salvation is accomplished through the channels set up, that is, the Church. We can supply living water by willing to receive and transmit grace, and so give that extra something that St. Paul said was lacking. If there is not enough living water flowing - not enough supernatural work being done - we should endeavor to find out how we can increase our output.
The following sections endeavor to point out the possibilities.

KNOWING HOW GRACE ACTS

a. Grace is completely available.
There is not just one thing to do at each moment, or I fail to do God's will; there are a multitude of actions presented to me by grace. Different ways to act are as available as different items in a supermarket - yet appointed for my needs with great care.
b. Grace gives physical ability to do the things necessary for salvation.
Example: You cannot put your hand in a fire and hold it there. St. Joan of Arc could put her whole body in a fire because God desired it. She was given the ability through grace.
c. Cooperation with grace puts me in touch with a tremendous power. If we believe that we are and can do nothing, we must believe that here is a power that can do everything. This power is, of course, God. Cooperation with His ideas, acceptance of His plans can make the power available.
Example: You cannot push a freight train, yet a small movement of the throttle and the whole train starts to move.
d. Grace operates below the level of consciousness.
Wonderful things - like the operation of grace, God speaking to us, the Spirit moving us, etc. - are continually causing changes in our soul. We are unaware either of their action or their significance.
Example: Consider what happens in baptism, etc., or what happened when the prodigal son said, "I will return..."
e. God will not sanctify me against my will, but He can change my will to make it agree with His desires.
f. Grace is a receiving.
The really important thing to understand about grace is that we receive it as a gift. We do not earn it or receive it because we seem to have done something to deserve it. If we are at all interested in arriving at a high degree of prayer (in order to increase our output) we must appreciate this function if grace, for in contemplation our activity is a receiving.

HOW TO KNOW GOD'S WILL

One of the great puzzles for anyone seeking to make progress in the spiritual life is in knowing God's will. "How do I know right now what God wants me to do?" In answer, I would say that 90% of your questions can be answered by your state in life. The other 10% are rather unpredictable, because it is in this area that God can arrange special circumstances that will orient you, reorient you, change your life etc. tc., in accordance with His plans, His providence. The way you accept, fight, or are indifferent to this orientation can be significant in your movement towards or away from God.
Let us take another view of it. In order to be saved, we have to follow God's will. In order to follow God's will we have to know what to do. He has to let us know what to do without forcing the action on me. (I have a will free to accept or reject). To do this He uses a vehicle. For example, He uses the vehicle of a hen to give us fresh eggs. The hen can be sick, well or lame, yet the egg can be a good. one. Sickness, failure, suffering can be a vehicle that brings the underlying, all-important will. Or, consider a broker scanning a ticker tape. Ordinary figures on a strip ofpaper being fed to him moment by moment engender all kinds of ideas about buying or selling, etc. So, too, God is showing us a multiplicity of things to do through grace, yet not forcing them on us.
One way of becoming more completely in accord with God and His will is to try often to put oneself in agreement with everything that is happening up to the ever-advancing 'now'. If there is anything in the world of events or in your interior thoughts that fails of a complete rapprochement with God - Who directly wills or permits these things - it is an indication that your will is not in accord with Divine Wisdom. Over a period of time obstacles to grace can thus be brought into spiritual focus and if there is willingness to remove them the ability will be forthcoming. This can be very effective in regard to acceptance of events of life that affect your personally.
Again, completely disassociate yourself from the work you do (teaching, selling, nursing etc.) insofar as it is your livelihood. Then, re assimilate it objectively as the means whereby God is sanctifying you. In this way when things occur that are difficult to reconcile with your work as a career, they can be associated with your sanctification and seen for what they are.