February 20
Crucify ourselves
e are soon to
celebrate the passion of our crucified Lord. It is therefore in keeping
with our commitment to him that we should crucify ourselves by restraining
the desires of the flesh. As the apostle says: You cannot belong to
Christ Jesus unless you crucify all your self-indulgent passions and desires.
Such is the cross upon which we Christians must continually hang, since
our whole lives are beset by trials and temptations. Not for us, as long
as we live, to be rid of those nails we read of in the psalm: Pierce
my flesh with the nails of your fear.
Flesh means the desires of our lower nature; nails, the demands of God's
justice and holiness. With these the fear of the Lord pierces our flesh
and fastens us to the cross as an acceptable sacrifice to him. In a similar
passage the apostle Paul appeals to us by the mercy of God to offer our
bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.
From John E. Rotelle, O.S.A., Tradition Day by Day: Readings from
Church Writers. Augustinian Press. Villanova, PA, 1994.
HTML text prepared by David P. Steelman
