A Time for Holiness

Brookline Carmel Bulletin J M J T

March 20, 1960

Cogitatio Sancta

(Holy Meditation)

“A Time for Holiness”

“We have entered now upon those solemn days which lead to Calvary and which prompt Christians to recall the present and the eternal implications of their Redemption. We do not stand outside of the sufferings and death of Our Lord, as men gazing upon an ancient pageant; we are part of that august drama and as each one of us made the cross necessary, so each one of us must in our generation make it new.” (“The Christian and the Community,” Pastoral Letter by Richard Cardinal Cushing, Archbishop of Boston, Lent, 1960)

“We do not stand outside of the sufferings and death of Our Lord… we are part of that august drama…” Traditionally, the cross of Carmel has no corpus. It is a bare cross, to indicate that each one of us is to place himself on the cross to share intimately in Christ’s sufferings, to identify himself with Christ. It is true enough that Christ redeemed us, but it is equally true that, in order to share in that redemption, we must be willing to share in the sufferings that led up to it. We cannot share in the glory of Christ unless we accept the cross of Christ. It is not suffering itself that we seek, however. Suffering, of itself, is indifferent, meaningless. It has value only when it receives some significance from the intention of the sufferer. Our Lord’s suffering received its significance precisely from the fact that He endured it in obedience to His Father in heaven, because it was His Father’s will. In order to be obedient, in order to do His Father’s will He had to endure suffering. He did not delight in suffering for its own sake. His words in the Garden of Gethsemane indicate this clearly enough. “My soul is sad, even unto death… Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass away from me; yet not as I will but as thou willest.” (Mt. 26:38-39) But He accepted it without hesitation because His Father had ordained it as the means of redeeming us. “It was right that he should in all things be made like unto his brethren, that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest before God to expiate the sins of the people. For in that he himself has suffered and has been tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted.” (Heb. 2:17) “For just as by the disobedience of the one man the many were constituted sinners, so also by the obedience of the one the many will be constituted just.” (Rom. 5:19) In this life, suffering is a necessary companion of fidelity to God’s will. Since our goal is perfect conformity to the will of God (as St. John of the Cross stresses so emphatically), we must expect suffering and be willing to endure it to prove our devotion to the will of God. “We are part of that august drama,” our Cardinal says, “and as each one of us made the cross necessary” (i.e., by our disobedience to God’s will), “so each one of us must in our generation make it new” (i.e., by our obedience to God’s will, whatever suffering it may entail).

“We know,” His Eminence continues, “that Lent is a time when special graces are given us to remake the person we are into the one that we should be; it is a time for holiness.” What is holiness but union with God? But union with God comes gradually in our lives, as we work long and hard to conform our will to His will in all things. Yet we can find consolation in the assurance that Lent is “a time when special graces are given us…” Without God’s grace we can do nothing. “Yet no one is made holy against his will; we must strive for sanctity, and make use of that special love of God we call grace, and look toward eternal life. This is in a sense the characteristic posture of the Christian: his feet are rooted in this world but his final designs are set in another; it is only by his free will commitment in cooperation with grace that he bridges the chasm that stands between time and eternity.”

The purpose of the Cardinal’s Pastoral Letter is stated in the Introduction as follows: “This letter is written in the hope that my voice will encourage the persevering, recall the wandering, solace the suffering and bring lost souls back to the love of God. We know that there are dangers that stand in the way of virtue but we know too that the power of God’s grace is above all our meriting. ‘Not by reason of good works that we did ourselves, but according to His mercy, He saved us.’ (Titus 3:5)” (We strongly recommend this Pastoral Letter as required reading for all. It was printed in full in last week’s “Pilot” – can also be obtained in booklet form published by the Daughters of St. Paul.)

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