Do You Really Want to Follow Jesus Christ?
For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in his footsteps. (1 Peter 2:21)
Archbiship Chaput has a wonderful reflection on what it means to follow Christ that we should think about this Good Friday, from his book Render Unto Ceasar:
Jesus accepted every measure of suffering on the cross. He did it freely. He chose it. The Father made this sacrifice for us through his Son because he loves us. There is nothing weak or cowardly or life-denying about that kind of radical love – and any parent who has suffered along with a dying child instinctively knows it. The question we need to ask ourselves, if we call ourselves Christians today, is this: Do we really want to follow Jesus Christ and love as he did, or is it just too inconvenient? We can choose differently. We can choose the kind of routine, self-absorbed, halfhearted anesthetic Christianity for which Nietzsche had such contempt. It is certainly easier. It also costs less…
[R]eal discipleship always has a cost. We can’t follow Jesus Christ without sharing in his Cross…Discipleship demands more than reading about the Catholic faith or admiring the life of Jesus. Christ didn’t ask for our approval or agreement. He doesn’t need either. He asked us to follow him – radically, with all we have, and without caveats or reservations.
Following Christ means paying the same price out of love for others that Jesus paid to redeem us. (pp.39, 45)
Ave verum Corpus natum
de Maria Virgine:
Vere passum, immolatum
in Cruce pro homine.
Cuius latus perforatum
fluxit aqua et sanguine:
Esto nobis praegustatum
mortis in examine.
O Iesu dulcis!
O Iesu pie!
O Iesu fili Mariae.
English:
Hail, true body,
born of the Virgin Mary:
Truly suffered,
died on the cross for mankind:
From who pierced side
flowed water and blood!
Be for us a foretaste
of death in the last hour!
O gentle Jesus!
O holy Jesus!
O Jesus, Son of Mary!
Other Good Friday related posts:
The Paradox of the Cross
Christ Teaches Us How to Die