The Sorrowful Mysteries - Meditations on Vocation

The Agony in the Garden

How many times has God already called me to follow Him, and I was unable to offer Him my whole self? Each time I linger or hesitate over a radical decision – what am I trying to protect, what do I want to fight God over? Perhaps I doubt that God wants nothing but my ultimate good and maximum happiness? God, who presents His plan to me, does not act by force – He desires that I pass through the individual stages myself; He will compel me to nothing. I can accept, but I can also reject the Chalice prepared by the Lord.

The Scourging at the Pillar

A word often hurts longer and more deeply than a physical blow. I did not have the possibility to strike the Incarnate God, but I still have the possibility to add sins that offend Jesus so greatly. God certainly has a path for me – must I struggle and tear myself away so much just to check if other options might be meant for me? Why can I not stand humbly and wait, just as Jesus did during the scourging?

The Crowning with Thorns

Thinking does not hurt, as the saying goes – but only in theory. More than once, after hard mental work, one feels tired and exhausted. Does this mean that one form of work is better or worse than another? Did Christ not suffer for everyone, did He not love everyone equally? Why do I try to judge and look for a scale for the various paths of my life? Perhaps it is worth letting oneself be led along the best path according to God, rather than searching for a path calculated by myself?

The Carrying of the Cross

What God wants to place upon my shoulders is by no means light and simple. There is no use deceiving oneself: many difficulties, failures, and a whole multitude of obstacles to overcome lie ahead of me. But is it worth focusing on the falls and sorrows when I know that with every step I am getting closer to God? Is there any sense in despairing over what I lose, when at the same time I gain something far more beautiful? If I do not ascend Calvary, I will die having lost my entire life. However, with the final fall on the summit of Golgotha, I will reach the living Love that desires to offer me His own life. The choice is mine.

The Crucifixion and Death of Jesus

To give up one's own life so that another may live. This fact should transform my every day anew. The awareness that a completely innocent Jesus was condemned instead of me should be my driving force for each subsequent moment. God does not demand death from me, but He desires that I consecrate my life to Him. And when I give it away, it will then take on a new, deeper meaning. To live for others and to treat them with love – this is the request that God addresses to every human being. A request He addresses to me as well.