“I have had crosses in plenty-more than I could carry, almost. I set myself to ask for the love of crosses — then I was happy."
— St. John Vianney
St. Paul Seminary opened its doors in 1965. Every year on the feast of the Triumph of the Cross, September 11, one of the bishops would come to the seminary, offer Mass and give the seminary the gift of a crucifix. Outside of the chapel there now hang 47 different crucifixes from over the years. I began my seminary journey in 1980, and of all the 47, I am always drawn to the one that marks the year of my entrance. At the beginning and end of each Mass and every prayer, we make the sign of the Cross to signify our Christian identity. Crosses hang around our necks, in our homes, classrooms, offices, hospital rooms and meeting rooms as ways of reminding ourselves that we belong to the Lord. A third century Church Father, Tertullian, wrote, “In all our travels and movements, in all our coming in and going out, in putting on our shoes, at the bath, at the table, in lighting our candles, in lying down, in sitting down, whatever employment occupieth us, we mark our foreheads with the sign of the Cross.” Thus the sign of the cross is a most ancient symbol of Christianity. But how visible is the Cross in our interior lives?
One of the most cited New Testament texts, paraded at all sports events and on bumper stickers, is John 3: 16, “God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but have eternal life.” God’s love is the dominant theme in Johannine writings. God is love (1 John 4: 8). Love is the mutual relationship between Jesus and the Father (John 15: 9-10 and 17: 23). Jesus loves His disciples and says that their love of service and friendship is to be a hallmark of discipleship (John 13: 34-35; 15: 12-14). Thus this Paschal season is an affirmation and renewal of such great love. St. Augustine said, “God loves each one of us as if there were only one of us to love.” God LOVES you; GOD love you; God loves YOU! So God loves us personally. Loving God is the whole reason for our being and our joy increases through our sacrifices.
The Cross is the ultimate proof of God’s love for us — a love so complete that God becomes one of us and a love so passionate, He dies in order to rise for us. The Cross is the proof of the persistent tenacious love of God, a love that is unexplainable in its limitlessness and completeness, but real in its presence in our midst. The Cross is history’s clearest proof that love is stronger than hate. The Cross is the greatest enigma in human history. The Cross represents what is worst in us and best about God. Through our sin we slap God in the face, but God turns the other cheek and forgives us again and again and again.
Jesus proclaims that just as Moses lifted up a serpent on a pole to save the Israelites, so too, the Son of Man will be lifted up on the Cross for the salvation of all humankind. The serpent meant death for the people, first in the Garden of Eden and now in the desert. But raised on a pole this same serpent means life. God transforms the meaning of the serpent from death to life as a snake sheds its skin to renew itself with the power of healing. According to the ancient Greek myth a serpent was said to have brought to Asclepius, the god of healing, herbs with medicinal powers. The emblem of modern medicine, the caduceus, features two serpents around a staff, symbolizing the healing profession. For doctors veterinarians, pharmacists and dentists represents preventing diseases, curing and prolonging life.
In St. John’s understanding the glorious Cross is a life-giving Cross. On the Cross Jesus embraces the entire universe to save the world. The Cross is the best sign of Jesus and our triumph over our two worst enemies, sin and death. I recall someone once telling me the only single regret in their life was his sins. Because Jesus rose triumphantly from the grave, He still lives with us. And the Cross really spells for a believer life over death, love over hate, victory over defeat and transcendence over tragedy.
This Fourth Sunday of Lent, which Mother Church traditionally calls Laetare Sunday, marks the midpoint of our Lenten journey. As St. Paul reminds us, we have every reason to rejoice (which is the meaning of “laetare”) because our God is very rich in mercy even when we are dead in sin. St. Paul speaks with tender gratitude of God who lavishes the greatest gift of all upon humanity — salvation. Salvation is God’s caring and loving concern. Salvation is free and unmerited as God favors us with His indescribable love.
No life is immune or exempt from the Cross. Every vocation carries crosses. The saints viewed crosses as their ladders to heaven. I recall as a hospital chaplain working on the oncology floor a cancer patient who crossed the threshold door daily to take chemotherapy only to get weaker and sicker. But with courage and hope he remarked to me, “Father, if you can’t carry the Cross Christ gives you in life, just drag it and Christ will carry it the rest of the way.”
We adore the Cross, we carry the Cross and we live the Cross as we embrace it in our lives. Let us develop a sense of gratitude as we offer up our crosses in love for God and for the salvation of others.
In Christ there is no trace of darkness.
His light shows up the darkness in us.
His truth shows up our lies.
His integrity shows up our falsehood.
His generosity shows up our selfishness.
His peach shows up our conflicts.
His openness to others shows up how closed we are.
However, we should not be afraid of His light.
Rather, we should rejoice in it.
Compared to His light, other lights
are mere flares in the night or candles in the wind.
Christ, radiant LIght of the World,
guides our steps in the ways of truth and goodness
And lead us through the gloom of this world,
to the kingdom of unfailing light.
— Fr. Flor McCarthy, SDB
