THE WAY OF THE CROSS WITH JULIAN OF NORWICH - Dominican Nuns Ireland

The love which made Him suffer is as much greater than His pain as heaven is greater than earth. For His suffering was a noble and most worthy deed worked out by love in time – and His love has no beginning, but is now and ever shall be. (Ch 22).

The love which made Him suffer is as much greater than His pain as heaven is greater than earth. For His suffering was a noble and most worthy deed worked out by love in time – and His love has no beginning, but is now and ever shall be. (Ch 22).

Our courteous Lord does not want us to despair even if we fall frequently and grievously. Our falling does not stop His loving us. (Ch 39).

I would rather endure that suffering until the Day of Judgement than to come to heaven apart from Him. I was quite clear that He who held me so closely bound could equally well release me when He pleased. Thus I was taught to choose Jesus for my heaven, Whom I never at this time saw apart from his suffering. I wanted no heaven than Jesus, who will be my joy when I do eventually get there. (Ch 19).

I thought: “Is any pain like this?” and my reason answered: “Hell is a different pain, for there, there is despair as well. But of all the pains that lead to salvation this is the greatest, to see your Love suffer. How could there be greater pain than to see Him suffer, who is all my life, my bliss, my joy?” Here it was that I truly felt that I loved Christ so much more than myself, and that there could be no pain comparable to the sorrow caused by seeing Him in pain. (Ch 17).

Our courteous Lord loves us eternally–and we sin constantly! He shows us our sin so quietly, and then we are sorry and morn over each one; we turn to see His mercy, and cling to His love and goodness, for we realise that He is our medicine while we do nothing but sin. Both when we fall and when we get up again we are kept in the same precious love. In God’s sight we do not fall: in our own we do not stand. (Ch 82).

He suffered for the sin of every one who is to be saved: and seeing the sorrow and desolation of us all Himself was made sorry through His kindness and love.

We need to fall, and we need to realise this. If we never fell we should never know how weak and wretched we are in ourselves; nor should we fully appreciate the astonishing love of our Maker……By the simple fact that we fell we shall gain a deep and wonderful knowledge of what God’s love means. Love that cannot, will not, be broken by sin, is rock-like, and quite astonishing. …Another benefit is the sense of insignificance and humbling that we get by seeing ourselves fall. Through it, as we know we shall be raised up to heaven: but such exaltation might never have been ours without the prior humbling. (Ch 61)

He that is the most high and most worthy was the most fully humiliated and most utterly despised. For the fundamental thing about the Passion is to consider who He is who has suffered. Just as He was the gentlest and purest of all, so too would the strength of His sufferings be greatest of all. (Ch 20)

For the union in Him of Godhead with manhood strengthened the latter to suffer for love’s sake more than the whole of humankind could suffer. I mean, not only that He suffered more pain than they, but that the pain He endured for our salvation was more than the whole body of humankind from the beginning to the end of time could experience or imagine.

With a glad countenance our Lord looked at His side, rejoicing as He gazed. …I was reminded of the most precious Blood and water that He shed for love of us. And gazing still, He showed me His blessed heart riven in two. And He said: ‘See how I have loved you.’ As if to say: ‘My dearest, look at your Lord, your God, your Maker, and your endless joy. See the delight and happiness I have in your salvation; and because you love me rejoice with Me.’ (Ch 24).

Just as in His first word our Lord said with His blessed Passion in mind: ‘In this way is the devil overcome’, so now in this last word He says with complete assurance – and He means us all – ‘You will not be overcome.’ This word: ‘You will not be overcome’ was said very distinctly and firmly to give us confidence and comfort for whatever troubles may come. He did not say: ‘You will never have a rough passage, your will never be tempted.’ But He did say: ‘You will never be overcome.’

We belong to our Lord not only because He bought us, but because we are His Father’s kindly gift: we are His joy, His reward, His glory, His crown. It is a unique thought that we should be His crown. And what I am saying is so great a joy to Him that He counts as nothing His agony and Passion, His cruel and shameful death.