The Passion of Christ

What Thomas Merton wrote about the contemplative life in his journal The Sign of Jonah really applies to all of us in our own prayer lives.

"The contemplative life becomes awfully thin and drab if you go for several days at a time without thinking explicitly of the Passion of Christ. I do not mean, necessarily, meditating, but at least attending with love and humility to Christ on the Cross. For His Cross is the source of all our life and without it prayers dries up and everything goes dead."

Perhaps this is one reason why, in the past, so many religious communities of both men and women incorporated the Stations of the Cross into their daily devotions. Some communities still do encourage this devotion, and it's interesting to note that their lives of radiant joy attract many vocations. I don't do all the Stations of the Cross every day, but I often take one station and strive to simply be there with my crucified Lord, "attending with love and humility" to Him whose Cross is my life and salvation. In my beloved parish of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Houston, TX, we're blessed to have a life-size crucifix in the sanctuary of our church. Sitting or kneeling there in the shadow of His wings each morning "makes fresh my heart, / A fountain ever springing: / All things are mine since I am His -- / How can I keep from singing?"

We adore you, O Christ, and we praise You,

because by Your holy Cross You have redeemed the world!