April 12

f you understand the mystery of God's boundless love and kindness, says the apostle, and realize all that the Son of God has done for our salvation, then have among yourselves the same attitude as was found in Christ Jesus. Let not the rich despise Christ's self-abasement, nor those of noble birth count it a disgrace. No matter how exalted our worldly fortunes may be, we must never be ashamed of the fact that he who had always been God by nature did not consider it beneath his dignity to assume the nature of a slave.

Imitate what he did, love what he loved, and, in return for the grace of God which you find in yourselves, love your own humanity in him. He lost none of his wealth by becoming poor; his humiliation did not lessen his glory nor did he forfeit eternity by dying. You also then must walk in his footsteps and learn to despise the things of this world in order to lay hold of the treasures of the next. To take up the cross means to put our sinful desires to death, to slay our vices, to turn aside from empty pleasures, and to renounce every deviation from the truth.

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