The Christian life is the true Jacob's ladder on which the angels ascend and descend. Meanwhile, the Lord stands above, holding out His hand to those who slip, sustaining by His vision the weary steps of those who ascend.---St. Jerome (420 A.D.)
The weary steps are ours. There is never a breath in our sometimes troubled lives that we should not hope and pray to ascend. There will be days when we will feel like we are descending, that everything is going wrong and failure and fear are all we know. But we must remember what Jacob did, he wrestled with an angel until the angel blessed him. We must wrestle with our angels, good or bad. This is a fight down here! This is about life and death. Jesus carried His cross and then was nailed to it. We must carry our crosses knowing that we will at some point be crucified with Christ, so that we might rise with Him. St. Paul meant these things he said, it wasn't conceptual philosophy, it was his daily reality. Is it ours? St. Jerome was correct, our life with God in Christ is the connection of heaven to earth, and Jesus is the only one Who can lift us when we fall. Mercy!
wkm
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