Skip to main content

Sorrowful Mysteries, 4th, The LORD Carries His Cross

John 19:16-17
Then he handed him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus,
and carrying the cross himself he went out to what is called the Place of the Skull, in Hebrew, Golgotha.

In the 4th Sorrowful Mystery we pray for the grace to bear our trials with patients.

The 4th Sorrowful Mystery has, as I find many times, obliterated what I thought was just a cliche and through the contemplation of this mystery I have seen the truth in the old saying "everyone has their cross to bear".

First of all I am brought back to Mark 8:34 where our LORD says "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me." As a Christian my only goal in life should be to be a disciple of our Lord Jesus Christ. In order to do that I don't need a bunch of stuff. My goal shouldn't be a better job, a bigger house, a "picture perfect" family. If I somehow end up with these things, then so be it. But my purpose should be to be a disciple. To be a disciple, I don't need an easy life. What I need is my cross.

However, in this life the LORD has blessed me tremendously. I have a good job. I have a decent house and cars that run. I have a little money in the bank. I don't want for food. If someone gets sick we go to the doctor. I could go on and on with the good things that the LORD my GOD has blessed me with. But that is not the point of this particular post.

My blessings are many, so even if I am willing to seek out my cross, I sometimes have a hard time finding it because I have it so good. so I pray
LORD, I want to be your disciple. You have blessed me abundantly and I do not see my Cross. Jesus, Son of David, Have pity on me(Luke 18:38). Let me see(my cross).

This is a scary thing to pray. The fact is, I want to be a good disciple and carry my cross as Christ carried His. But, I fear that when He does show me my cross, I will lack the courage to pick it up (the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak Mathew 26:41). So I pray, LORD strengthen me and grant me the courage to pick up my cross.

But, I know that even if I see my cross and even if the LORD gives me the courage to pick it up and carry it that I cannot carry it by myself (because without me you can do nothing. John 15:5). So I pray, Help me, LORD I cannot carry this cross by myself. I am too weak.

Far from being cliche the Cross is central to the Christian life. A lesson I have learned meditating on the 4th Sorrowful Mystery is that my focus in life should be to be a disciple of Our LORD. To be a disciple I must pick up my cross and follow Him. If I don't see my Cross then I need to pray that GOD will grant me sight. That if I fear The Cross, I should pray for the grace to embrace my Cross. Finally, that I will not carry The Cross on only on my own shoulders but if I ask, the LORD will help me under the weight of The Cross.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2013 BeeBumble 10k: Race Report

This has quickly become one of my favorite races of the year and I am not alone because there was a record 575 participants across the different events this year. I like the small town atmosphere, I like the course that is an out and back on a country road, and the timing makes it a perfect tune up race for the fall season. After my performance here the last two years I am also really beginning to appreciate it for the confidence booster it is and it's ability to add a breath of fresh air to the end of the training cycle for the 2013 Indianapolis Monumental Marathon. For this race I added an early morning shake out run to get my body primed for running. This was just a short and easy 20 minute run very first thing out of bed. Nearly all of my running is first thing in the morning but  I've never done it as a shakeout for a race. I liked it and think I'll keep it. The last 5k I ran I didn't do a warm up and I learned my lesson because it cost me a very slow fi...
2 comments
Read more

My AMDG Run: An Answered Prayer.

I have never been a person to pray for specific favors. It never felt right to me. My prayers generally are for strength, guidance, an acceptance of what comes my way. That is always how I "felt" right praying. To pray for a specific favor like a good grade, to do well in some competition and things like that just always felt a little wrong and to pray for physical healing was something I never would have considered. I am not saying this was any kind of selflessness. I am not sure exactly what it was. A fear of seeming childish or perhaps it was out of fear that my faith would be shaken if the prayer wasn't answered. Regardless, this is how I generally pray. And that is not to say that I don't or didn't think that God doesn't concretely answer prayers. I believe that He does. For instance I have always prayed when overwhelmed something like "God, I cannot do this all alone, please help me" and I will somehow, someway find my way through whatever it...
3 comments
Read more

2015 Valpo Half Marathon Race Report

This was my big tune-up race for the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon. I always run a half-marathon at this point in the build up to the Monumental to get a final big fitness boost, a reality check on where I am at fitness-wise and, if all goes well, probably the most important aspect is the confidence boost that I get. I got one heck of a confidence boost yesterday, 10/25/2015, at the Valpohalf Half-marathon in Valparaiso IN. Valparaiso is about 2 hours from home which is kind of right there on the line of driving on race morning or staying in a hotel the night before. This time we decided to get up and drive. Valparaiso is on central time which puts it an hour behind us. Meaning the 8:30 AM start was really a 9:30 AM start for me.  Making the decision to drive that much easier. I have been dealing with some issues on the top of my right foot, which is probably extensor tendinitis, for the last couple of weeks. I saw my soft-tissue guy last Friday. He worked on it some and got...
4 comments
Read more