Fig Monday
“I have not gone back”
The voice of the prophet Isaiah which we heard in today’s epistle reveals to us the dispositions of soul of Our Lord Jesus Christ on the eve of His passion. We can see here the struggle between the feebleness of His human nature, reluctant to undertake the labour of the Passion, but also the tremendous fortitude of His soul, which refused to turn back. “I have not gone back”, he says; “I have not turned away my face; I have set my face as a most hard rock, like flint, and I know I shall not be confounded”.
These words should inspire each one of us in those moments of our lives when we are called to sacrifice, when the cross to carry is heavy, when we must speak and act, and our nature feels abhorrence. Let us then harden our face, let us move forward, let us have confidence that the Lord is with us then, more than ever.
And where do we find the strength to do that? In the virtue of hope. “He that walketh in darkness and hath no light, let him hope in the Name of the Lord and lean upon his God”. The virtue of hope relies not on our own strength, but on that of God. He who relies on God, is impregnable. All the forces of hell can unite together against him; he will not fall, for God Himself is His rock.
May Our Blessed Lady, who is called in the Litany “Virgo Potens–Mighty Virgin” and “Turris Davidica–Tower of David” be with us at every moment, and give is to hope with absolute confidence in the divine omnipotence. “I can do all things through the One who strengthens me,” wrote St Paul.
Lean not upon yourself, lean upon the Lord, and your face will be like flint, and you will not turn back till your enemies become your footstool.
