lated them, and yet not only does He pardon them, but He asks His Father to pardon them. He excuses them, and becomes their apologist: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (a). O truly Divine method of forgiving injuries! Wherefore, having pondered well on these two points-namely, what kind of enemies Jesus pardoned, and how He pardoned them, let us, also, arrive at the following conclusion: 66 'Therefore, we, too, must love our enemies, and those who hate and persecute us; nay more, we must serve them, as far as it lies in our power." Christ Himself teaches us this: "I have given you an example, that as I have done to you, so you do also" (b). God commands it: "Love your enemies; do good to them that hate you" (c). Nay, the Lord declares, that whosoever hates his brother does not love God: "If any man say I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar" (d). Let us examine ourselves, then; and let each one of us ask himself, In what inanner do I pardon my enemies? How do I love them? What favours do I confer upon them? AFFECTIONS. An act of love of our enemies. Yes, O Lord, here at the foot of Thy cross, and in presence of Thee crucified, expiring through love of Thy enemies, I bind myself, and swear, to pardon all those who have offended me; and, still more, to love them, and do them all the good in my power. I hate and detest (a) Luke xxiii. 34. (b) John xiii. 15. all-even the very least feelings of dislike, hatred, and spite. And if I thought that in my veins there flowed a single drop of blood which did not entirely pardon my enemies, I would open that vein, and cast it from me, Do Thou, O Jesus, grant me the grace to imitate Thee, and then the more men offend me the more shall I love them. An act of obedience. O my Jesus! since you have been obedient unto death-even unto the death of the cross-I, also, promise you, with the assistance of your grace, to obey all my superiors, all things, how difficult soever they may be, always, perfectly, promptly, and blindly. in A desire of resembling Christ by means of the third degree of humility. O my soul, look upon the face of thy Jesus nailed to the cross! See how He has ascended to the third degree of humility! Behold! He, to whom were due all the honours, the pleasures, and the riches of the world, has for His portion, instead, all its insults, its miseries, and its pains— and this solely because He wished that it should be so! Behold! He who could have redeemed us by shedding a single tear, wishes that His veins should be torn open, and that from His broken heart all His most precious blood should gush forth in torrents. Ah! my Jesus, why so much suffering? Why so much poverty? Why so much disgrace? Ah! you wished to set before me a solemn example of what I ought to do in order to become like you. But since you have already done so much, solely in order to serve me as an example, do now that which is less. Give me the grace to imitate Thee in the third degree of humility; that I may abandon, solely in order to resemble Thee the more closely, honours, riches, and pleasures, and take for my portion suffering, poverty, and contempt. COMPENDIUM. I. Jesus Christ dying on the cross is for us a most perfect model of the third degree of humility: for here it is, principally, that He chooses poverty in lieu of riches, insults instead of honours, hardships instead of pleasures, and sufferings and death instead of health and life. And all this He endures, not in the ordinary way, but in the most painful, most trying, and most ignominious manner; whether we take into consideration the time of His death; or the torments which caused it; or the circumstances which accompanied it. II. Jesus dying on the cross is an illustrious example of obedience. For (1.) He obeys all. (2.) He is obedient in all things-even in those which are most difficult. (3) He obeys in a most perfect manner, that is entirely, . . promptly, . . blindly; and while the various circumstances accompanying his passion increase more and more the difficulty of that obedience. III. Jesus dying on the cross is the most perfect model of love of our enemies, since He loves enemies (1.) whom He had never offended, but had always served. (2.) Who, far from asking pardon for their offences against Him, only insulted Him the more. (3.) Upon whom He might have taken signal vengeance, had it so pleased Him. And yet, His love goes to the length not only of pardoning them, but of praying for them, and even of dying for their salvation. 355 Eighth Day. FIRST MEDITATION. On the Resurrection of Christ. FIRST POINT. CONSIDER the happiness of Jesus in His Resurrection. During the time of His Passion, He had entirely lost those four principal kinds of goods which belong to man. He lost even His very garments, when He was reduced to a state of complete nudity; He made a sacrifice of His honour, by subjecting Himself to the most outrageous insults; He forfeited His health and His incomparable beauty, by submitting to the horrible tortures inflicted upon Him by the executioners; and finally He made the sacrifice of His most precious life by a most cruel death. But now, on arising from the dead, and coming forth again from the sepulchre, He receives back, at one hundred-fold interest, all that He had previously lost. For (1.) He who before was poor is now become rich, and "the Lord of the whole earth" (a). (2.) He who a few days before was reputed a worm, and the reproach of men, now crowned with glory and honour" (b), " sitteth on the right hand of the Majesty on high" (c). He who before was 66 (a) Micheas iv. 13. (b) Ps. viii. 6. (c) Heb. i. 3. 66 a man of sorrows, and acquainted with infirmity” (a). now invigorated with new strength, "hath broken gates of brass, and burst iron bars" (b). He "whom they killed, hanging Him upon a tree" (c), now "is risen from the dead, the first fruits of them that sleep" (d), and His most holy body "shall shine as the brightness of the firmament for all eternity" (e). Wherefore break forth into acts of love and congratulation; and rejoice that you selected Him for your King and Captain, and enrolled yourself to fight beneath His glorious standard, promising to march with Him to the third degree of humility. Renew again the oath you have already sworn; promise Him unwavering constancy; and call heaven and earth to be witnesses of your loyal devotion. SECOND POINT. Consider the certainty of hope in a glorious future which the resurrection of Christ brings us; for the happiness which He now enjoys in His resurrection is the standard and pledge of our future happiness, The apostle has promised us this; and, as an earnest of his promise, he gives utterance to that solemn oath: "a faithful saying," which means, "I speak the truth," If we be dead with Him, we shall live also with Him: if we suffer, we shall also reign with Him" (f); yet so, if we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified with Him" (g). Such is the compact. Who will doubt it? Who will hold the (a) Isa. liii. 3. (b) Ps. cvi. 16. (c) Acts x. 39. (ƒ) 2 Tim. ii. 12. |