THE WAY OF PLEASURE AND THAT OF THE CROSS


FRIDAY, EIGHTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

Nahum 2:1,3,3:1-3,6-7; Deut 32:35-36,39,41; Mt 16:24-28

The Contrary Ways of the World and the Spirit

The way of the spirit is totally against the ways of the world; what the world and the flesh glory in, the spirit shuns as despicable and worthless. Our bodies crave delectable pleasures, sweet sensations, material goods, but the spirit delights in truth, moral goodness, doing the divine will, and life in God. We celebrated the Transfiguration of our Lord yesterday. On the mountain, Peter beheld the glory of Jesus Christ and received so much sensible consolations that he expressed his wish to remain there and never to come down to the hard reality of life again. The same Peter denied the Lord Jesus Christ at the moment of his passion, placing a curse upon himself for knowing the Son of Man. All these demonstrate the weakness of our fallen human nature and how much we need God's grace. What the apostles found so enthralling and exciting, the Lord bid them to remain silent and never mention it to anyone until the most glorious event of his passion came to pass. Of the glorious event, he talked, preached, and prayed about; that God the Father might bring it to pass as soon as possible, that souls might believe in its inestimable benefits, that we may celebrate and own it as our own. Our whole life and vocation as Christians are geared toward the most glorious event on Calvary.

The mountain of Calvary is the most glorious of all places because of the crucifixion of the Son of Man there. Through that singular event, man offered God a perfect sacrifice and glorified God suitably. As prophesied by Isaiah, it is on the mountain of Calvary that God prepared the most exquisite and spiritual delicacies for man. The restoration of Israel, of which prophet Nahum prophesied, was accomplished in principle and in general by the event of Calvary. “See, over the mountains the messenger hurries! ‘Peace!’ he proclaims. Judah, celebrate your feasts, carry out your vows, for Belial will never pass through you again; he is utterly annihilated.” The glory of the Lord revealed on Calvary is the Gospel of restoration of our human nature to God. No more shall the bodies or souls of the faithful be a thoroughfare for the devil. The King of Heaven has passed through the eternal gates and restored the walls of Jerusalem. “Yes, the Lord is restoring the vineyard of Jacob and the vineyard of Israel.” These were accomplished through the event of Calvary. Where the man, Peter, who represents all of us, denied the Lord, there the most glorious event of all time took place. At Calvary, God received the greatest glory from man, and subsequently offered or granted man the greatest salvation through the death of the Son of Man. The glory revealed at the transfiguration on Mount Tabor is only a means of attracting men to the greatest glory that happened at Calvary.

Calvary is therefore the way of the Spirit, and Tabor, the way of the mere man. With the fading glory of Tabor, the Lord attracts the hearts of men, who are enslaved to sensible delectations, to the spiritual glory that endures forever, which is at Calvary. To the spiritual man, Tabor is transitory and undesirable because of that, but Calvary is true glory and life-giving. But both are from God, for he says: “See now that I, I am He, and beside me there is no other god. It is I who deal death and life; when I have struck it is I who heal.” Since the ultimate will of God is the glory of Calvary, which endures forever, Jesus bids us carry our crosses and follow him to Calvary. “Jesus said to his disciples: ‘If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me. For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it. What, then, will a man gain if he wins the whole world and ruins his life?’” The hardship of the way of the Spirit is unimaginable to the man of the flesh. We can walk that path because the life of Christ is given to us, and the Holy Spirit is with us always. Those who maintain this divine communion have already entered the banquet of eternal life. “I tell you solemnly, there are some of these standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming with his kingdom.”

Let us pray: Draw near to your servants, O Lord, and answer their prayers with unceasing kindness, that, for those who glory in you as their Creator and guide, you may restore what you have created and keep safe what you have restored. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who live and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.    

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