SON, for thy sake I have sacrificed My life on a cross, amidst the most fearful sufferings and tortures; can I then be requiring too much when I ask thee sometimes to remember all I have done for thee; sometimes to call to mind My Passion? Can a Father ask less of thee, O son, a Father who for love of thee has suffered and died, was most cruelly transfixed with nails, and breathed His last, plunged in a sea of sorrows? I ask thee not for thy blood, although I shed every drop of Mine for the love of thee. I ask thee not to endure the scourge, to which also I submitted for thy sake. I ask thee not for the sacrifice of thy life, although I laid down My own with infinite love, for the salvation of thy soul. No, My son. I ask thee but to pause for a moment, to contemplate Me suffering, covered with wounds, and dying on the Cross; to contemplate Me in the state to which I am reduced by My ardent desire for thy salvation. I ask of thee a thought, a feeling of love, a sigh, a tear of compassion at the sight of My countless sufferings; can thy heart, O My son, be so hardened and unfeeling as to refuse thy tender Father, thy loving Redeemer, this slight tribute of gratitude—the occasional recollection of My Passion? Canst thou so liberally bestow thy thoughts and affections upon the world, upon creatures, and upon thy own interests, and yet refuse Me even a sigh, or a feeling of love and sympathy?
Ah, son! I beseech thee to satisfy My desires, and not to refuse what I ask of thee. Remember all My sufferings, My wounds, and My death, compassionate and love Me. At least, let thy first thoughts each day be devoted to the remembrance of someone of My bitter sufferings; let at least one sigh be given to thy Crucified Saviour as the hours speed on their course; and let the last emotion of thy heart, after all the cares of the day are over, be a feeling of compassion for thy Redeemer expiring on a Cross.
Ah, My son, forget not how much thy salvation has cost Me; forget not at how dear a rate I have ransomed thy soul, how much blood I have shed, and how many sufferings I have endured in order to atone for thy sins! If thy mind is continually occupied with such thoughts, and if thou dost often meditate upon My Passion, never, never more wilt thou so barbarously crucify Me again by willful sins.
This article is taken from a chapter in The School of Jesus Crucified by Fr. Ignatius of the Side of Jesus, Passionist, which is available from TAN Books.
