Sorrowful Mysteries

I find myself deeply involved in the Sorrowful Mysteries when I pray the Rosary.  My "favorite" mysteries are the Joyful, but the deepest meditations - the ones in which I sometimes get lost - are those I find in the Sorrowful Mysteries.  Today I thought about the cross - who will carry their cross?  How many of us just stand there looking at it, afraid to pick it up - afraid of the possible pain and suffering involved?  Are there many of us willing to endure the pain of the scourging?  Or even small mortifications, like fasting?  Doesn't our society look upon suffering with derision, as something to be avoided at all costs?  Hasn't our focus become pleasure, on our own well-being, on our own will?  How many refuse to follow our Lord?  Refuse to follow the sorrowful path, which leads to final death and resurrection...even while still in the world, dying to our self so that we may rise in Him?

I find that the more I travel this path, the more I realize how far I am from the "ideal".  The more I see my faults, my failings, my sins.  But the more I see how far I have to go, the more willing I am to pick up my cross; the more willing I am to follow Jesus; the more willing I am to let Him lead me down the path he has chosen for me.  Ultimately, the more willing I am to search for and find JOY.