The Way of the Cross

04 July 1999 13:56

This is part of Fr. Werenfried van Straaten’s latest message in his charity’s newsletter <www.kirche-in-not.org>

It is undoubtedly true that all too many people today are blinded by selfishness and bent only on pursuing their own comfort and unbridled pleasure. But at the same time there are also a great many, and you among them, who are ready to give up the goods of this passing world – and even forget their own personal worries – and invest their money and their possessions in the Kingdom of Heaven where there is no

danger of stock market crashes or devaluation. Heaven is indeed the
safest bank. God’s blessing is everlasting. Our Heavenly Father
does not speculate with your money; on the contrary, He gives back in

rich and overflowing measure to all who are faithful in little things.

The sacrifices that you make again and again are a sharing in the Way of the Cross of the Church in need. Thus, together with the poorest of our brothers and sisters, we stride towards the Resurrection. These poorest of our brethren all those who weep, mourn, hunger, are reviled and persecuted – have been proclaimed blessed in the Gospel of Our Lord Himself ”Rejoice and be glad, ” says Jesus, ”for your reward is great in Heaven” (Mt 5: 12).

Every time you show your love for them, when you make the needs of these brothers and sisters your own, you may be sure that the Lord blesses you in a special manner. The blessing of Jesus does not necessarily mean that the Cross, which you must doubtless also bear, will be taken from you. But it does mean that you will be given the strength to bear it. The Cross is a precious gift that must not be rejected, but accepted and even welcomed. ”Salvifici Doloris” – healing pain – with these words the Pope begins his encyclical on the ”Christian meaning of human suffering.”

And our YES, which may often cost us dearly, because it is not always easy to give of ourselves – this YES is our response to the infinite love which God has shown us in the suffering and death of His Son. Through our self-mastery, through the acceptance of suffering and cross we too can contribute our part to the work of salvation. The louder the cries of the refugees, of the expelled, the raped, the innocent victims of this pitiless Balkan war, as of the oppressed in China, Sudan, India and Indonesia or in Saudi Arabia, Iran and Vietnam, the more abundant the tears of the mothers who have no bread or milk to give, the bleaker the stare of the old and lonely and the more muted the strangled cry of the unborn, denied life by the Herod whose name today is selfishness – the more abundantly will the grace of the Lord pour down upon us.

The greater the suffering, the more profoundly God inspires in His children on earth the spirit of sacrifice and the desire to share what they possess with the poorest of their brethren. Do not close your hearts against this grace of God! You hold a place of honour in my priestly prayer, alongside the poor whom you have so generously helped

in the past year and will again continue to help. And in this I am
counting not only on your material generosity. Still more I count on
your prayers. For prayer is the furnace in which our giving must be
purified. For God wishes us to be pure in heart, He wishes us to be
happy. ”Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Mt
5: 8). These words of Jesus are meant for you. Please remember me
in your prayers.

Werenfried van Straaten