Lest You Remain

leave a picture of myself for the curious to look at and a picture of my Lord’s life, Jesus Christ to follow. ( Testamentum Alterum ) J ESUS C HRIST 1 “If anyone would serve me, let him follow me” (J 12:26). Contemplate this dili- gently, that the Lord wants to be followed by all the religious, who are truly attuned to the service of God, that is to an active life and suffering. As for the first, they should strictly keep the rules which were set up by God, in the form of directives concerning their behavior. Similar to David, they should desire to not waiver from the given norm of life, not in the least. Thus, he asked God with these words: “Make me understand the way of your precepts, and I will meditate on your wondrous deeds” (Ps 118:27). As for the second, God wants the religious who serve Him, to follow Him in suffering. Each and every cross, of any nature, which would be placed upon them, they should carry, not only with courage, but also with joy. He recommends this by saying: “If a man wishes to come after me, he must deny his very self, take up his cross, and begin to follow in my footsteps” (Mt 16:24). He is right: a faithful ser- vant, the one gifted with extraordinary virtues would remain by the Lord in the same spirit, both in joyful and sorrowful moments, in favorable circumstances and in adversities. Worthy of a disgraceful stigma, is the one who follows the Lord to the Supper, but runs away from Him, falling under the weight of the cross. ( Inspectio Cordis ) 2 “My burden [is] light” (Mt 11:30). Jesus is right in saying this. He Himself carries and supports with his grace the one who bears His burden, so that he can only slightly feel the weight of the burden. But when, at times, He makes this bur- den (e.g. suffering, persecution, temptation and every cross) disagreeable and hard, it is only for our greater benefit and merit, since He gives Himself to the bearer, according to the weight of the burden. L EST Y OU R EMAIN W ITHOUT W ORK IN THE V INEYARD OF THE L ORD 106