This is St. Francis trying to comfort Jesus in His sufferings on the Cross. To St. Francis, it was (is) very important to meditate on the sufferings of Christ. In fact, St. Francis thought that he was the biggest sinner in the world. He said this because he realized that he had been given so many graces and he was still a sinner. He spent years crying over his sins. In this world of self-centeredness, let us take a step back during Holy Week to cry over our sins. Let us examine our consciences and ask the Holy Spirit to show us where and how we have offended Him. (We should do this all the time so that we can grow closer to Him, but this week is a great time to concentrate on this in a special way.)
Regarding the last two posts on the "Self-Emptying Love of Christ" -- let us continue on this mediation as well. We can strive, with God's grace, to "empty ourselves" out of love of God and our neighbor, but we must also fill ourselves with Christ and His Love. If we only empty ourselves, we will not be happy. The joy of the Christian life is in our being FILLED with God and allowing that Love to overflow to others!
We also mentioned in the last post about a deeper way to love -- to believe that the other person is more important than oneself. The key to this is that both husband and wife (if married), or everyone in the Community (if in a Relgious Community), treat each other this way. Yes, this is a higher way of thinking (actually, a higher way of loving) -- but just imagine a household truly striving to live this way! Jesus showed us how to love when He came to live with us, die for us, and then rise for us. We can ask Him for the grace to do the same!
Chris Sligh sings a song called, "Empty Me". Maybe it's appropriate for our meditation this week:
God bless you all! Be filled with God and His awesome and abundant love!
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