O happy band of pilgrims

"The Cross that Jesus carried

he carried as your due:

the Crown that Jesus weareth

he weareth it for you."

The above quote is from the hymn " O happy band of pilgrims".  The words throughout this hymn  are striking. This verse however is particularly poignant in this season of Lent. The cross he carried and the Crown he wore, he did for us. It is very easy when looking at words like this to get weighed down by the overwhelming responsibility we have in these events. From the first fall of mankind through to the present day it has been in our nature to sin. It is this predisposition that led to our Saviours Crucifixion, it is however also what led to his resurrection.   

I explored last time the idea that it is because we suffer, we appreciate the revelations of love, hope and joy that light up the path through the darkness and evil we all travel. It is also true that had we not fallen into sin at the first hurdle we would not have required the gift of salvation. When we hold onto our sins, we become bitter and entrenched in their darkness. They begin to weigh heavy  and we can see no way to move passed them. They allow the claws of temptation to grasp a firmer grip because our hearts and our minds are already unclean and our judgement clouded by previous events. In short when you sin once, you are more likely to sin again and again, each time in a bigger way because your will power has already succumbed to temptation. So why then are we a happy band of pilgrims? 

We are happy because God gave us a reset button. He gave us the gift to wipe our hearts and minds clean and come to him anew in pureness. He gave us the sacrament of reconciliation. Temptation is a tricky thing, it lurks in the daylight with a silver tongue persuading us that what is wrong is right through deception. Temptation can show you the world and persuade that it is all yours but it is always at a price. Temptation does not ever sell you the whole story, it is perhaps the best spin doctor there is. The price is your salvation. When you have given into temptation you know instantly, as whatever you may try to persuade yourself, a creeping sense of doubt about your actions starts to dwell in your mind. This is the beginnings of that grasp getting tighter. 

As I have been writing those last few words a quote once spoken to me has come into my mind.

 “As to confessing one’s sins to a priest, all may do so, none must do so, some should do so.”

I can not for the life of me remember who said it to me, or who the quote originally came from. Even at the time they were spoken to me they were words that reflected what I think on the matter. Confession to a Priest is most certainly not for everyone, but it is a Sacrament, a gift from God. From the moment God sent the baby Jesus to our sinful world, it was with the ordained purpose that this his son, should die without sin that our sins should be forgiven. He gave us three days of contemplation of our Saviours sacrifice before he resurrected him into new life.  He performed in this task the first and all encompassing act of reconciliation. He gave us the reset button.

 

We are a happy band of pilgrims, for if we walk in faith, if we place our transgressions at the foot of his cross, if we trust that in his Sacrifice our hearts are washed pure in his blood, we can again resist temptation with a renewed strength. He bring us to a new life in him, that he may dwell in us and we may dwell in him. We almost inevitably fall foul of temptation again, but not so easily when he is in our hearts.

"O happy band of pilgrims, 

if onward ye will tread

with Jesus as your fellow

to Jesus as your Head!

O happy, if ye labor

as Jesus did for men:

O happy, if ye hunger

as Jesus hungered then!

The Cross that Jesus carried

he carried as your due:

the Crown that Jesus weareth

he weareth it for you.

The faith by which ye see him,

the hope, in which ye yearn,

the love that through all troubles

to him alone will turn,--

What are they, but vaunt-couriers

to lead you to his sight?

What are they, save the effluence

of uncreated Light?

The trials that beset you,

the sorrows ye endure,

the manifold temptations

that Death alone can cure,--

What are they, but his jewels

of right celestial worth?

What are they but the ladder,

set up to heaven on earth?

O happy band of pilgrims,

look upward to the skies,

where such a light affliction

shall win so great a prize. "