From
a letter by Saint John of Avila
The life of Jesus revealed in
us
Praise to the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercy and God of all consolation
who consoles us in all our trials and enables us to console others who are
being tried, for we urge them on as God urges us on. As we share generously
in the sufferings of Christ, so do we share generously in His
consolation.
 he words are those
of Saint Paul the Apostle. He was beaten with rods three times, flogged five
times, stoned once and left for dead; he suffered every persecution men can
inflict, his body was twisted by pain and toil. And all this was his lot not just
on one or two occasions, for he writes: We are constantly being handed
over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that His life may be revealed in
us.
In all these tribulations he
does not murmur or complain about God, as weaker men do. He is not saddened
as those who love status and pleasure are. He does not beg God to be relieved
of them, as men do who are unaware of their true value and therefore will
have no part of them. He does not make light of them, as men do who set little
value upon them. On the contrary, fully aware of the value of these tribulations
and rising above his own weakness, Paul blesses God amid his sufferings and
thanks Him as though He had bestowed a fine reward. He thinks it an honour
to be able to suffer for Him who subjected Himself to so very much shame
in order to free us from the dreadful effects of sin; Who exalted us by giving
us His Spirit and making us adopted sons of God; and Who gave us, in His
own person and through His own efforts, a proof and pledge of heavenly
joy.
Dear brothers and sisters, I
pray God may open your eyes and let you see what hidden treasures He bestows
on us in the trials from which the world thinks only to flee. Shame turns
into honour when we seek God’s glory. Present affliction becomes the
source of heavenly glory. To those who suffer wounds in fighting His battles
God opens His arms in loving, tender friendship, which is more delightful
by far than anything our earthly efforts might produce. If we have any sense,
we shall yearn for these open arms of God.
If you long for these festivals
of heavenly joy, if you want to behold them and take part in them, be assured
that there is no better way to reach them than the way of suffering. This
is the way Christ and His disciples have always travelled. He calls it a
narrow way, but it leads straight to life. That is why He tells us that if
we want to join Him, we shall travel the way He took. It is surely not right
that the Son of God should go His way on the path of shame while the sons
of men walk the way of worldly honour: The disciple is not above his teacher,
nor the servant greater than his master.
God grant that our hearts may
find no rest and seek no other food in this world, save in hardship and suffering
beside the Lord’s cross.
—Saint
John of Avila, priest
Office of Readings, May 18:
John I, Pope and Martyr
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