If
you seek the example of love: “Greater love than this no man has,
than to lay down his life for his friends.” Such a man was Christ
on the cross. And if he gave his life for us, then it should not be
difficult to bear whatever hardships arise for his sake. If you seek
patience, you will find no better example than the cross. Christ
endured much on the cross, and did so patiently, because “when he
suffered he did not threaten; he was led like a sheep to the
slaughter and he did not open his mouth.” If you seek an example of
obedience, follow him who became obedient to the Father even unto
death. “For just as by the disobedience of one man,” namely,
Adam, “many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one man, many
were made righteous.” If you seek an example of despising earthly
things, follow him who is “the King of kings and the Lord of lords,
in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Upon
the cross he was stripped, mocked, spat upon, struck, crowned with
thorns, and given only vinegar and gall to drink. Do not be attached,
therefore, to clothing and riches, because “they divided my
garments among themselves.” Nor to honors, for he experienced harsh
words and scourgings. Nor to greatness of rank, for “weaving a
crown of thorns they placed it on my head.” Nor to anything
delightful, for “in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.”
--
Saint Thomas Aquinas
