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This blog is simply meant to bring God the glory; no more and no less. I'd love to hear from you! Comments, questions, conversation. rebecca.labriola@gmail.com

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Under the Weight of the Wood. Thursday, March 13. Lent 2014.

We triumphantly sing along with Kelly Clarkson,

“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”

But when we are challenged by Christ,
challenged by our faith,
challenged by the Cross,
those lyrics don’t apply.

We seemingly become the kings and queens of
whining,
complaining,
and weak links.

We think we have to suffer these 40 days of Lent
and then we get to party and sail smoothly for the remainder of the year
because Christ died on the Cross for us.

He did the dirty work.
He even said His load is light and His burden easy.
That’s the life I’m going for; light and easy.

But rather,
The Cross of Christ is set forth as an example
of how we should respond to the Cross.

Life is full of crosses.
But not one is aimed at dragging us down.
They are all for a greater glory
but we are too busy complaining about them
to see through the Cross
into the glory of the Cross.  

“Expect to be pruned, hewed, chiseled under the hammer of the Cross; otherwise you will remain like rough stones which serve no purpose.”

We’re all for Christ
until the Cross comes.

What if Christ backed out
because the Cross involved too much pain?

What glory has come from
Christ suffering on the Cross!

What gives us the right
to back out of our daily crosses?

What are we missing
by being wimps?

What glory could stem from
us carrying our crosses like Christ?

Knowing that we are nothing without Christ
means that we cannot successfully carry our crosses on our own.

He is there,
in fact,
He is holding most of the weight.

It’s our job then to carry our portion
and bring glory to His name in doing so;
as He brought glory to His Father.

What glory can you bring to the name of Christ by carrying your cross? 

This Lenten blog series is based upon St. Louis de Montfort's writings. Unless otherwise noted, all the phrases in quotation marks are taken from the book Jesus Living in Mary. 

3 comments:

  1. Where can i get the book, Jesus Living in Mary? It sounds like it would help me in my life. Do you have any other books that you recommend in helping us live our daily lives for Christ? and where the best places are to get them?

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    Replies
    1. Hi Lindsay! I found Jesus Living in Mary at the Catholic Book Store (on Magnolia)...I think it is a bit cheaper on Amazon. It is a massive book; a compilation of multiple authors commenting on the spirituality of Montfort while weaving his writings throughout. Montfort wrote God Alone which is another great book along with the Total Consecration book. These should be on Amazon as well. Hope this helps! Thanks for reading and sharing!!

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  2. A.M.D.G.

    “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”

    Quite the opposite is true...what kills you, crucifies you, the carrying and embracing of each cross that we bear...THIS is what makes us stronger. Self-mortification, death to "self" is what makes us stronger. We die daily, over and over again throughout each day...as we say "no" to our "self".

    May we receive the graces to endure the weight of each cross Christ gives us to bear, that our "self" may be crucified and we become more like Him who loved us first.
    +Amen.

    Mrs.O.

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