The Lord Jesus
The Lord Jesus I would like to begin with a word from St Paul: 'If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus, let him be anathema.' Truly, I ought to love the one through whom I have my being, my life, my understanding. If I am ungrateful, I am unworthy too. 'Lord Jesus, whoever refuses to live for you is clearly worthy of death, and is in fact dead already. Whoever does not know you is a fool. And whoever wants to become something without you, without doubt that person is considered nothing and is just that. O God, whoever wants to live for himself and not for you, in all that he does is nothing.'
The love of Jesus was sweet, and wise, and strong. I call it sweet because he took on a human body, wise because he avoided sin, strong because he endured death. Even though he took a body his love was never sensual, but always in the wisdom of the Spirit. How sweet it is to see as man the Creator of humanity. A dear friend, a wise counsellor, a strong helper. Should I not willingly entrust myself to the one who had the good will, the wisdom, the strength to save me? He sought me out, he called me through grace; will he refuse me as I come to him?
Human Affection for Christ Notice that the love of the heart is, in a certain sense, carnal, because our hearts are attracted most towards the humanity of Christ and the things he did or commanded while in the flesh. The heart that is filled with this love is quickly touched by every word on this subject.
The soul at prayer should have before it a sacred image of the God-Man, in his birth or infancy or as he was teaching, or dying, or rising again, or ascending. Whatever form it takes this image must bind the soul with the love of virtue and expel vices, eliminate temptations and quieten desires. I think this is the principal reason why the invisible God willed to be seen in the flesh and to converse with men as a man.
He wanted to recapture the affections of carnal men who were unable to love in any other way, by first drawing them to the saving love of his own humanity, and then gradually to raise them to a spiritual love.
It was only by love of his physical presence that they had left everything. Afterwards he showed them a higher degree of love when he said, 'It is the Spirit who gives life, the flesh profits nothing.'
God's Self-emptying That self-emptying was neither a simple gesture nor a limited one. He emptied himself even to the assuming of human nature, even to accepting death, death on a cross. Who is there that can adequately gauge the greatness of the humility, gentleness, and self-surrender, revealed by the Lord of majesty in assuming human nature, and in accepting the punishment of death, with the shame of the cross? But somebody will say: 'Surely the Creator could have restored his original plan without all that hardship?'
Yes, he could, but he chose the way of personal suffering so that we would never again have a reason to display that worst and most hateful of all vices, ingratitude. If his decision did involve painful weariness for himself, it was meant also to involve us in a debt that only great love can repay.
He who was Lord became a slave, he who was rich became a pauper, the Word was made flesh, and the Son of God did not disdain to become the son of man. So may it please you to remember that, even if you are made out of nothing, you have not been redeemed out of nothing.
The Three Unions In assuming our flesh the majesty of God by an exercise of omnipotence effected three unions, wonderfully unique. For the Divine Nature was united to human nature, virginity to motherhood, and faith to the heart of man.
The Divine and Sovereign Trinity has shown us the most wonderful thing in creation: the Word, the soul, and human flesh are united in the unity of a single person. So, remember, that you are dust and do not be proud; remember also that you are made one with God and be not ungrateful.
According to the ordinary course of nature, virginity is never found co-existent with fecundity, nor is there any room for fecundity where virginity is preserved intact. Mary is the only woman in whom integrity and motherhood have met together. In her was once accomplished what had never been done before nor shall be done again.
It is very extraordinary how the heart of man gives assent to these two mysteries. Just as iron and clay cannot be welded together, so it is impossible to join so mighty a force of faith with the inconstancy of the human heart, without the solder of the Holy Spirit.
Reconciliation To us a Child is given indeed, but in him dwells the fulness of the Godhead. For when the fulness of time was come, the fulness of the Godhead came also.
. What is there that so builds up faith strengthens our hope, and kindles our charity as the humanity of God? . .
. For what have I to fear when the Saviour comes to my house?
He is a little Child and easily appeased. See, is he not made very little for our sakes, and can we not be reconciled for very little? For very little, mind you, but not without repentance because our penitence is a very little thing. We are poor and have little to give; but we can be forgiven for that little, if we will. This miserable body is all I have to give; but if I give that, it will be enough, provided that I add his body to my own, for that is of mine and belongs to me.
From you O Lord, I beg that which I have not in myself.
Sweet and easy is this reconciliation, small is the satisfaction that I am required to make; but it must not be reckoned as of small account. For now it is made easily, later it will be hard. Now there is no one who cannot be reconciled; but later on there will be nobody who can.
fe bai ta eerie Lgtaveatghind
The Lord Jesus We have placed a number of texts on the person of Christ among those in the Liturgical Year, for we cannot really separate our personal devotion to Christ and his place in the Liturgy. 'Write what you will, I shall not relish it unless it tells of Jesus': this is the mind of Bernard and we are very close to his heart when we read what he has to say about the name of Jesus and its healing power.
The sufferings of Christ had a large place in Bernard's devotion: the 'little bundle of myrrh' as he referred to them. If he had a motto it was, 'My beloved is to me a little bundle of myrrh'. He had it written on a rough piece of wood which he hung in his cell, and which was later buried with him.
He was familiar with the heart of 'My Lord Jesus', overflowing with mercy, to which he went with all confidence. When he felt tired and arid, he turned to the companionship of Jesus who did not fail to drive away all his feelings of tension and weariness.
It is in these texts especially, that we meet Bernard the man and the monk. A simple person sitting with the Lord in the house of Martha and Mary; the fire and the energy are quietened, he is at our side yet so much 'deeper in'.
Like St Teresa, he tells us we can never have done with meditating on the God-Man, we can never outgrow gazing on the human face of Christ, for he is the way to the Father. But Christ has ascended, and Bernard leads us on to a higher degree of love, to union with the Word in Christ whom we contact through faith in spirit and in truth.
The Name of jesus The name of Jesus is more than light, it is also food. Do you not feel increase of strength as often as you remember it?
What other name can so enrich the man who meditates? What can equal its power to refresh the harassed senses, to buttress the virtues, to add vigour to good and upright habits, to foster chaste affections?
Every food of the mind is dry if it is not dipped in that oil; it is tasteless if not seasoned by that salt. Write what you will, I shall not relish it unless it tells of Jesus. Talk or argue about what you will, I shall not relish it if you exclude the name of Jesus. Jesus to me is honey in the mouth, music in the ear, a song in the heart.
Again it is a medicine. Does one of us feel sad? Let the name of Jesus come into his heart, from there let it spring to his mouth, so that shining like the dawn it may dispel all darkness and make a cloudless sky. Does someone fall into sin?
Does his despair even urge him to suicide? Let him but invoke this lifegiving name and his will to live will be at once renewed.
And where is the man, who terrified and trembling before impending peril, has not suddenly been filled with courage and rid of fear by calling on the strength of that name?
The Healing Power of the Name of Jesus Where is the man who, tossed on the rolling seas of doubt did not quickly find certitude by recourse to the power of the name of Jesus? Was ever a man so discouraged, so beaten down by afflictions, to whom the sound of his name did not bring new resolve? In short, for all the ills and disorders to which the flesh is heir, this name is medicine.
Nothing so curbs the onset of anger, controls unbridled extravagance and quenches the flame of lust; it cools the thirst of covetousness and banishes the itch of unclean desire. For when I name Jesus I set before me a man who is meek and humble of heart, kind, prudent, chaste, merciful, flawlessly upright and holy in the eyes of all.
And this same man is the all-powerful God whose way of life heals me, whose support is my strength. Because he is a man I strive to imitate him; because of his divine power I lean upon him. The examples of his human life I gather like medicinal herbs; with the aid of his power I blend them, and the result is a compound such as no pharmacist can produce.
I Am the Way 'Tam the Way, the Truth, and the Life.' The way is humility, the goal is truth. The first is the labour, the second is the reward. But you may ask: 'How do I know that Our Lord is speaking of humility? He only uses a general word, "I am the Way" '? Well, I will give you a clearer test. 'Learn of me for I am meek and humble of heart.' He points to himself as an example of humility, a model of meekness.
Imitate him and you will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life. What is the light of life but truth that enlightens every man that comes into this world and shows us where the true life is to be found?
So, when he says: 'I am the Way and the Truth', he adds, 'and the Life'. It is as if he said: 'I am the Way, I lead to Truth: I am the Truth, I promise Life; and I myself am the very life I give you.' 'For this is eternal life, that they may know you the one true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.'
Supposing, then you go on to object: 'I see the way — humility; I long for the goal to which it leads — truth; but what if the way is so difficult that I can never reach the goal?'
The answer comes promptly: 'I am the Life', that is, I am the food, the viaticum, to sustain you on your journey.
Christ Feeds Us and is Fed by Us In the days of his earthly life Christ ate at the house of Martha and Mary, and refreshed his spirit with their devotion and virtues. But I think he was giving them a food of a spiritual kind. He fed them in the same way as he himself was fed.
So it is that while he feeds others he is himself fed, and while he refreshes us with spiritual joy he himself rejoices in our spiritual progress.
My penitence, my salvation, are his food. I myself am his food. Iam chewed as I am reproved by him; I am swallowed by him as I am taught; I am digested by him as I am changed;
I am assimilated as J am transformed; I am made one with him as I am conformed to him.
He feeds upon us and is fed by us that we may be the more closely bound to him. Otherwise we are not perfectly united with him. He eats me that he may have me in himself, and he in turn is eaten by me that he may be in me, and the bond between us will be strong and the union complete. For I shall be in him and he will likewise be in me.
Lent with the Church Today, dear brethren, we enter the holy season of Lent, our
Christian period of military service. In keeping it, we do not stand alone. We are united with all who hold the faith. Should not all Christians share the fast of Christ? Where the Head leads, should not the members follow? If from the Head we have received good things, shall we not also receive painful things? Would we refuse the sorrowful, yet share the pleasant? If so we prove ourselves unworthy to be joined to him; for everything he suffers is for us. It is no great thing, surely for a man to fast with Christ, when he hopes to sit with him at his Father's table. Nor is it much for the member to suffer with the Head, seeing he stands to share his glory too.
Happy the member who clings to the Head through all, and follows him wherever he goes; for otherwise, if he be parted from him, he will lose the spirit of life.
Lord you carry my griefs and grieve for my sake; and through the narrow door of the passion, you enter first, to make a wider passage for your members that follow you.
The Palm Sunday Procession I want you to see in this procession, dearest brethren, an image of the glory of our heavenly fatherland, and in the Passion the way that leads to it. For the trials of this present time are the way to life, the way to glory, the way to the holy city, the way to the kingdom of God according to the witness of the thief who said from his cross 'Lord remember me when you come into your kingdom.'
The thief beheld Christ on his way to his kingdom, and begged to be remembered by him when he arrived there. He also came there as a result of his prayer; and by how short a journey you may gather from the fact that he was deemed worthy to be with the Lord in Paradise on that very day.
Thus the glory of the procession renders the pains of the Passion easy to endure, because nothing appears difficult to the soul that loves.
The Sufferings of Christ 'My beloved is to me a little bundle of myrrh.' From the early days of my conversion, conscious of my grave lack of merits, I made sure to gather for myself this little bundle of myrrh. It was culled from all the anxious hours and bitter experiences of my Lord. First from the privations of his infancy, then from the hardships he endured in preaching, the fatigues of his journeys, the long watches in prayer, the temptations when he fasted, his tears of compassion, the heckling when he addressed the people, and finally the dangers from traitors in the brotherhood.
There were the insults, the spitting, the blows, the mockery, the scorn, the nails and similar torments, and all for the salvation of our race. Among the little branches of this perfumed myrrh I feel we must not forget the myrrh which he drank upon the cross and was used for his anointing at his burial. In the first of these he took upon himself the bitterness of my sins, in the second he affirmed the future incorruption of my body. As long as I live I shall proclaim the abounding goodness in these events; for all eternity I shall not forget these mercies, for in them I have found life.
The Wounds of Christ Someone expounding this passage, 'my dove in the clefts of the rock', interpreted 'the clefts of the rock' to mean the wounds of Christ, which I entirely approve of, since 'Christ is the rock'. What can be found in the Rock except what is most excellent? It makes me feel secure, it gives me a firm footing.
On the Rock I am safe from my enemies. And where shall the weak find a safe rest or a secure refuge except in the wounds of the Saviour. I have sinned most grievously but I am not confounded because I will call to mind the wounds of my Saviour. For he was wounded for our sins. What sin can be so much 'unto death' as that it cannot be 'loosed' by the death of Christ? Therefore no disease however desperate, shall have power to drive me to despair, if only I keep in mind so powerful and effective a remedy.
Brethren, whatever I see to be wanting in me, I appropriate for myself with all confidence from the heart of my Lord
Jesus. For his heart overflows with mercy, neither does it lack clefts for the outpouring of its treasures. They pierced his hands and his feet and opened his side with a lance. And through these clefts I am allowed to 'suck honey from the rock and oil from the hardest stone'.
Resurrection Resurrection is passing over, passing on. Christ did not come back, he passed over. He did not return, he passed on. The very name Pasch means 'pass over', not "come back'; and Galilee means 'passing on', and not 'return'. If, after his death on the cross, the Lord Christ had lived again under the conditions of our mortality amid all the troubles of this present life, I should have said not that he had passed over but that he had come back. But because he has in fact passed over into newness of life, he invites us also to pass over.
Shall we deprive the Resurrection of its name of Pasch by making it an opportunity of going back, rather than of passing over? Shall we be found as meddlesome, as talkative, as lazy and as careless as we were before? Are people going to find us conceited again and suspicious, backbiters and bad tempered, and enmeshed in all the vices that we have deplored these days (of Lent) with such solicitude? This is not passing on, my brothers, not so will you see Christ, for this is not the way by which God shows us his salvation.
Passing Beyond The Lord Jesus passed not only from death to life, but passed beyond to glory. If he had indeed risen from the dead but had not ascended into heaven, one could only say that he had passed by, not that he had passed beyond to glory, and that the Bride who seeks him must only pass by and need not pass beyond. But since he had passed by in his Resurrection and had passed beyond in his Ascension, she too had to pass beyond in faith and devotion and follow him even to heaven. To believe in the Resurrection, is to pass by, but to believe in the Ascension is to pass beyond.
Christ is the first fruits — he has gone before and our faith has gone with him. Where would it not follow him? If he goes up to heaven our faith is there; if he goes down to hell it is there. If he takes the wings of the morning and dwells in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there his hand will lead me, and his right hand hold me. Is it not then through our faith that the omnipotent and good God has raised us and made us sit down at his right hand?
Thus the Church said, 'I left them behind', for she has left herself behind, abiding in faith where she had not yet come in fact.
Christ our Companion When men grow weary of studying spiritual doctrine and become lukewarm, when their spiritual energies are drained away, then they walk in sadness along the ways of the Lord.
They fulfil the tasks enjoined on them with hearts that are tired and arid, they grumble without ceasing. If when we are subject to these moods, the compassionate Lord draws near to us on the way, and being from heaven begins to talk to us about heavenly truths, sings our favourite air from among the songs of Zion, speaks about the city of God and its peace, and on the life that is eternal, I assure this happy talk will drive away all tension from the hearer's mind and weariness from his body.
For our meditations on the Word who is the Bridegroom, on his glory, his elegance, power and majesty, become in a sense his way of speaking to us. When with eager minds we examine his rulings, when we meditate on his law day and night, let us be assured that the Bridegroom is present, and that he speaks his message of happiness to us lest our trials should prove more than we can bear. Beware of seeing these thoughts as your own, rather acknowledge that he is present.
The Gift of the Spirit No one who loves God need have any doubt that God loves him. God gladly returns our love, which was preceded by his own. How could he be reluctant to love us in response to our love for him, when he already loved us before ever we loved him at all? Yes, I say, God loved us. We have a pledge of his love in the Spirit and a faithful witness to it in Jesus — a double and irrefutable proof of the love God bears towards each one of us. Christ died for us, and so deserves our love.
The Spirit moves us by his grace and so enables us to love.
Christ gives us the reason, the Spirit gives us the power. The one sets before us the example of his own great love, the other gives us the love itself. in Christ we see the object of our love, by the Spirit we are empowered to love him. We can say then that the former supplies the motive for charity, the latter the volition. How shameful it would be to see God's Son dying for us without being moved to gratitude! Yet this could easily happen if the Spirit were lacking.
The love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit he has given us, and so we love him in return for his love, and by loving him we deserve to be loved still more. of
Faith The Apostle tells us that Christ dwells in our hearts by faith.
We may take that as meaning that Christ lives in us as long as faith does. When faith dies, however, then in a sense Christ also dies in us. And faith is dead when it lacks works; our works bear witness to our faith's vitality, just as the movements of the body show that the body lives. And the life of faith is charity, as the Apostle says, 'Faith works by love'; and charity is spread abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.
Therefore when charity grows cold, faith dies, just as the body dies when the soul departs from it. So if you see a person active in good works and joyful in the zest of living, you know from these indubitable proofs that faith is alive in them.
Just as the flower by necessity precedes the fruit, so faith ought to come before good works. Without faith it is impossible to please God. Hence there is neither fruit without a flower nor a good work without faith. So the mind accustomed to quietude receives consolation from good works rooted in sincere faith.
St Peter and St Paul My brothers, the pastors and teachers appointed for men ought to have meekness, power and wisdom. They ought to be meek, that they may receive me with kindness and compassion; they ought to be powerful, to afford me a secure protection; they ought to be wise, in order that they may bring me to the path and along the path that leads to the holy city.
Now where can you find greater meekness than that shown by Peter .
. who invited all sinners to come to him? Where greater power than that of him to whom the very earth was obedient, giving up the dead at his command? Where will you find greater wisdom than his, to whom not flesh and blood but the Father in heaven communicated with such generosity that wisdom which comes down from heaven?
What have the holy apostles taught us, and what are they teaching us still? Not the art of fishing, or tent-making, nor anything of that kind; not how to read Plato, or how to be always learning and never arriving at the knowledge of the Truth.
No, what Peter and Paul have taught me is how I ought to live.
The Pharisee and the Publican Consider now that Pharisee who prayed in the Temple. He was not an extortioner, he was not unjust, neither was he an adulterer. He fasted twice in the week and gave tithes of all he possessed. You are now perhaps thinking he was ungrateful? But hear what he said: 'O God I give you thanks that I am not like the rest of men.
. .'. No, the obstacle to grace in him was that his heart was not free from self-righteousness, it was not emptied out, it was not humble but rather proud and elated. For instead of trying to discover what was yet wanting in himself, he exaggerated his merits. Therefore, he who imagined himself to be full went down to his house empty.
The Publican, on the contrary, did in truth empty himself; and because he took care to bring his vessel empty, he returned with a bountiful outpouring of grace.
Therefore, dear brothers, if we too wish to find grace, let us not only avoid sin in the future, but also do worthy penance for the sins of the past, and be careful to prove ourselves devoted to God and sincerely humble.
The Holy Angels Consider, dearest brethren, how careful we ought to be to show ourselves worthy of such noble company and so to live in the sight of the holy angels that they shall see nothing in our conduct to displease them. For woe to us if ever it should happen that provoked by our sins and indifference, they deem us undeserving of their visits and their company.
Then in truth, we shall be obliged to lament, because those had withdrawn who could have protected me by their presence and driven off my enemies. If, then, we find the companionship of the angels so necessary for us, we ought carefully to avoid anything that could displease them and to cultivate those virtues especially in which they take particular delight. Now there are many things which afford them pleasure and which they are glad to find in us, such as sobriety, chastity, voluntary poverty, frequent ejaculations to God, prayers offered up with contrite tears and a pure intention of the heart.
But above and beyond all these, unity and peace the 'angels of Peace' demand from us. We ought to think and speak alike and have no divisions amongst us, but rather to show that we are all, collectively, one body in Christ and members individually one of another.
Guardian Angels He has given his Angels charge of you to guard you in all your ways. How this ought to produce respect in you, to promote devotion and to provide confidence!
Respect because of the presence of the Angels, devotion because of their friendliness, and confidence because of their guardianship. His Angels are everywhere, in every nook and cranny respect your Angel. They are present not only with you, but even for you. To protect you and to benefit you. What shall you repay to the Lord for all he has given you?
What have we to fear under such guardians? Those who guard us in all our ways cannot be overcome or led astray, or much less lead us astray. They are faithful, they are prudent, they are powerful. What should we fear? Let us simply follow them, stay close to them, and we shall dwell in the protection of the God of heaven. Each time you feel some great temptation, and strong tribulation pressing in, call on your guardian, your guide, who is your helper in tribulation.
Call upon him, he does not sleep, nor does he slumber. Be familiar with the Angels, Brothers, visit them often by careful meditation and devout prayer, for they are always near to comfort and protect you.
The Cross St Andrew threatened by the torture of the cross answered:
'If I had feared the cross, I should not have proclaimed its glory.' Then seeing it prepared, he cried, 'Hail precious cross, that received honour and beauty from the limbs of the Lord!
Hail, cross that was hallowed by the body of Christ and by his limbs was enriched as with pearls.'
When we were singing these words of Andrew at Matins last night, did none of us say to himself, 'What is the sense of it?
Is the cross really precious? Is it a thing that can be loved? Is it a thing of joy?'
Yes, brothers, it is. The tree of the cross bears the bud of life... it is a fruitful, a health-giving tree. How should it otherwise have occupied that Ground, or how should its nailroots have pierced that supremely precious Soil? It would never have been planted in that Garden, never have been allowed to occupy that Vineyard, had it not been more precious and more fruitful than any other tree.