Today we take the time to be truly alone with Jesus, to contemplate him, to see how he acts, how he feels, what he loves, what pains and hurts him. Jesus is our Friend and wishes us to be his friend, and so he desires – more than anything – to reveal to us his heart. Our invitation is to this personal knowledge of Jesus, a knowledge that will inspire us to a deep and profound love and a self-giving service in response to this love.
But for now, the emphasis is to watch, to see, to look deeply into the heart and mind and spirit of this God-Man, the light-filled revelation of God. A contemplation that leads to knowledge, a knowledge that leads to love, a love that leads to service: this is the grace of this day of coming to know Jesus the Christ.
The Grace We Seek: An intimate knowledge of our Lord, Jesus Christ, that we may love him more and follow him more closely.
Reflection Material
A. From the Rule of Life
10. We are to have a personal love of God our Father, of his Son Jesus, and of the Holy Spirit who abides with us. In a particular way we cherish in our prayer and labor the naked, abandoned Jesus on Calvary. We express our love through personal service to his poor and abandoned members.
B. From the Word of God
Through Jesus God has loved us first – 1 John 4:7-19
Jesus gave himself completely for us, and so saved us! – Mark 15:1-39
Out of love for us Jesus was obedient even to death on a cross – Phil. 2:6-11
His true friends and disciples love him to the end – John 19:25-27, 38-42
C. From Father Thomas Augustine Judge, C.M.
1. Retreat Conference to Pioneer Cenacle Members (August 6, 1915)
“Learn of me, because I am meek, and humble of heart.” (Matt. 11:29) Our relations with our Blessed Saviour and our thoughts of Him should be very personal. That is, we should think of our Lord as a real Being and not as an abstraction. Now, of course we don’t, but nevertheless, sometimes I think we don’t put enough into our relations with God. Let us be personal.
Try and give our Lord an intimate relationship in your own heart. Then His principles are not abstractions, they are not mere loveless rules of conduct. When He said, “Learn of me, because I am meek, and humble of heart,” there is an energizing power, an uplifting power; there is a power in these words of a living, true model.
“Learn of me, because I am meek and humble of heart.” We should try to follow out these words. Never forget our Blessed Lord is a teacher and that is His lesson. That is a hard lesson, because it affects self-love. That is why we are cruel to our own souls. That is why we allow grand opportunities of grace to go by. That is why we don’t become saintly. We won’t give up. We won’t yield. We won’t permit Almighty God to take that nasty deposit out of our lives.
Yet if we had this personal love for our Lord it wouldn’t be hard because the model would be so close to us that it would help us.
We can lay this down to the word of God Himself, that no one but a humble person is dear to God. You all want to become a delight to God; you cannot do it unless you are humble, because our Lord says that He resists the proud. Aren’t those frightful words? “God resisteth the proud!” (Jas. 4:6) He hates them. He opposes them. Think of God opposing anybody. Isn’t that a dreadful thought and condition? That is true of those who are self-sufficient.
Who are the proud? Those who have an inordinate love for themselves, those who esteem themselves over others. All we have of ourselves are our wicked inclinations, that is all. All humility is, is a realization of our relationship with God, and realizing that no matter what I have, it is due to the grace of God. Pride manifests itself not only in an intolerant way of thinking but in an intolerant way of acting. See what came to Lucifer and those bright angels for the sin of pride. That was the only sin they committed, and for that God condemned them to hell for all eternity. Let us remember this truth, that God hates that particular kind of person, that God will bring their designs to naught.
“God gives grace to the humble” (Jas. 4:6), to those who think they are not of much use. God gives His grace to the humble, to the little ones, those who are small in their own estimation. If you want our Lord to think much of you, if you want to be dear to His Sacred Heart, you must be like that Sacred Heart. “Learn of me, because I am meek, and humble of heart.” [MF:8357]
2. Original Constitution of the Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity (1928) Art. 6
Retreat Conference to Early Followers (February 18, 1917)
Letter to Bishop Toolen (January 8, 1931)
An apostolic life means progress in the virtue of self-sacrifice and, that the Missionary Servants may ever put Jesus and His Church first, they must free themselves of every species of self-interest; hence, they shall always be mindful that “we the living are constantly being handed over to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus may be made manifest in our mortal flesh.” (2 Cor. 4:11) To aid and sustain them in this therefore:
(a) They shall cherish in their prayer and labor the agonizing Christ of Gethsemane and Calvary.
(b) They shall strive to develop a spirit that is derived from the Cross and that is suggestive of Gethsemane and Calvary.
(c) They shall pray to the Holy Spirit for His Gifts and Fruits, especially for Wisdom and Fortitude. [MF:14295]
The Cenacle calls for a spirit of sacrifice. You should be known as men and women of sacrifice. In other words, you Ought to have that virtue down so fine that not a murmur of complaint should come from you no matter what would happen. That desire for redress, determined that you be treated with consideration (should be totally absent). The poorer you are in spirit the more of the Kingdom of Heaven you are going to possess. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt. 5:3) Give up all things for the love of Christ. It is so hard. It requires prayer. Prayer will set it for you, the spirit of the Kingdom of Heaven you are going to possess. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt. 5:3) Give up all things for the love of Christ. It is so hard. It requires prayer. Prayer will set it for you, the spirit. [MF:10784]
Consider missionary effort in hard and difficult places – either foreign or home. Suppose the missionaries had not trusted in God and sacrificed themselves? The most glorious chapters of religious communities are the chapters made by missionaries who went to places where there was seemingly no hope. The Missionary Servants will gladly go forth into the territory in which the spiritual needs of the people cannot be attended because of the lack of priests or the lack of funds to support them. [MF:1668]
Missionary Cenacle Spirituality 