Thought for the day from St. Louis de Montfort: Take up your cross and follow Me!

Editor's note: I recommend this beautiful little work of St. Louis de Montfort. We all have crosses in our lives. Will we use them to become holy or run from them to our loss? "Take up your cross and follow Me," says the Lord, "for my yoke is easy and my burden light."

You Know that you are living temples of the Holy Spirit and that, like living stones, you are to be set by the God of love into the building of the heavenly Jerusalem. And so you must expect to be shaped, cut and chiseled under the hammer of the cross; otherwise, you would remain rough stones, good for nothing but to be cast aside. Be careful that you do not cause the hammer to recoil when it strikes you; respect the chisel that is carving you and the hand that is shaping you. It may be that this skillfull and loving craftsmanwants you to have an important place in his eternal edifice, or to be one of the most beautiful works of art in his heavenly kingdom. So let him do what he pleases; he loves ou, he knows what he is doing, he has had experience. His strokes are skillful and directed by love, not one will miscarry unless your impatience makes it do so.                     From A Letter to the Friends of the Cross #28