Anyone
who has a true devotion to the passion of the Lord must so contemplate Jesus on
the cross with the eyes of his heart that Jesus' flesh is his own.
Let
earth tremble at the torments of its Redeemer, let the rocks of faithless
hearts be split, and, now that the mighty obstacles have been shattered, let
those leap forth who were weighted down by the tombs of mortality. May signs of
the future resurrection appear now in the holy city, that is the Church of God
and hearts experience that which our bodies will undergo.
The
victory of the cross is denied to none of the weak; there is no man who cannot
be helped by the prayer of Christ. For if his prayer aided the multitudes who
raged against him, how much more does it help those who turn to him?
Ignorance
has been taken away, difficulties have been made easier, and the sacred blood
of Christ has extinguished the flaming sword which blocked the way to life. The
darkness of the former night has given way to the true light.
The
Christian people are invited to share the riches of paradise, and the road back
to the fatherland they lost has been thrown open once more to all who have been
reborn, unless anyone closes for himself that way which the faith of the thief was
able to open up.
The
activities of this present life must not fill us with anxiety or pride, so that
we do not strive with all the powers of our soul to be conformed to our
Redeemer in the way that he showed us. He performed and suffered everything
necessary for our salvation, so that the power which was in the head [Christ]
might also be found in the body.
Indeed,
what man was left deprived of his mercy, except the unbeliever, by that taking
of our substance in the divinity, whereby, the Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us? Who does not share a common nature with Christ if he has accepted him
who assumed our humanity, and has been born by that Spirit by which he was
begotten? Again, who would not recognize his own infirmities in him? Who would
be unable to see that taking food, resting in sleep, being troubled by grief,
and weeping in love, are the marks of the form of a servant?
Because
humanity needed to be cured of its ancient wounds and cleansed of the filth of
sin, the only begotten Son of God became the son of man too, lacking nothing of
the reality of manhood and nothing of the fullness of divinity.
That
belongs to us which lay lifeless in the tomb, rose again on the third day, and
ascended above all the heights of heaven to the right hand of the glory of the
Father. If we follow the way of his commandments, and are not ashamed to
confess how great a price he paid for our salvation, in bodily humility, we too
shall come to share in his glory. For what he predicted shall be fulfilled
clearly, 'everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge
before my Father who is in heaven.'
(Pope St. Leo the Great, Sermon 15 on the Passion, 3-4)
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