2015 The way of perfection passes by way of the Cross. There is no holiness without renunciation and spiritual battle.68 Spiritual progress entails the ascesis and mortification that gradually lead to living in the peace and joy of the Beatitudes:
He who climbs never stops going from beginning to beginning, through beginnings that have no end. He never stops desiring what he already knows.69
Catechism of the Catholic Church
We are so often enthralled with the Resurrection, the bare cross with the white drape over it, that we shun the crucifix. The empty cross would be meaningless without the bloodied body of Christ just moments before. Although Jesus indeed did pay it all, we still must share in His passion. “Take up your cross and follow me” was not a suggestion, but a duty of the Christian life.
We each have our own personal crosses and it’s satan’s biggest thrill to cajole us into stepping down from it. To finding an easier, more enjoyable path than the one the Lord has willed for us.
Our crosses come along with our ‘steps’…each ordinary little step we take in obedience, requires a little bit of ‘dying’ to self. In step 1, we are targeting mind, body and spirt. Offering it up to the Lord and listening to how He leads us. Embracing His will over our own.
Is he leading us to give up alcohol, or sugar for instance? That’s a cross my friend. Our flesh will want to retaliate, the more dependent we had become on the thing we are trying to give up the more painfully we’ll feel the crucifixion. But stick to it, with the Resurrection in mind.
The first thing to ‘give up’ of course is outright sin. Those big dust particles that block the way of His grace reaching us. Then with that hurdle cleared, His grace will compel us forward, always bringing us higher and higher into a deeper state of holiness where we’ll see clearly all the little things that we’ve been doing that hinder our progress. His grace accompanying us through each step!