The Cross’ Role In Our Life

The cross is the sign of our salvation. We must first of all accept its place in our life, not only like an inevitable suffering which we are obliged to accept by not avoiding it, but in giving it a royal place in our spiritual life. We have to believe in the mystery of the suffering of Christ in order to find the sense of it and benefit from his resurrection. 
As Christians, we look at the cross not merely as a painful situation that happened to someone, but as the total gift of Jesus’ life. When we look at the cross, we experience a pure exposure of love, grace, and mercy from God the Father through his only Son, Jesus Christ. 
That is the reason why the cross has an important place in our spiritual life. When we look at it physically we recall its meaning, just as the dove symbolizes peace and the heart symbolizes love.
The cross is a symbol of the loving and sacrificial offering of self for others. It is only in the cross that we see the face of God’s love. There is no greater love than that of a person who is willing to die for another, and the cross tells this love story.
The cross is the symbol of the remission of our sins: The Bible says that when Jesus died he took all our sins upon himself on the cross, and so he conquered sin, death and the devil’s power forever.
Whenever we see the cross, we should realize that Jesus was bruised and crushed and that he died for our iniquities. “But he was pierced for our offenses, crushed for our sins, upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole, by his stripes we were healed.” (Is 53:5).
The cross is the symbol of humble self-emptying for others. It is the symbol of the cross-bearing Christ leading us in our life’s journey of pain and suffering, carrying his heavier cross and still encouraging us, strengthening us and supporting us. The cross is the symbol of the risen Christ who promises us a crown of glory as a reward for our patient bearing of our daily crosses.
The cross appears to be a terror for those who see it only from a human aspect but for us believers it is a symbol of our faith and our salvation. St. Paul stated in 1 Co 1:23, “but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.”
Pope Francis gives us a clear understanding about the Cross and the mystery of God’s love. In his homily at Santa Marta’s Church, Pope Francis gave a reflection on the relationship between Christianity, the Cross and our own sin.  The Pope said, “Christianity does not exist without the Cross and stressed that we are unable to free ourselves from our sins on our own. The Cross, he said, is not an ornament to place on the altar, but is the mystery of God’s love who takes our sins upon himself”. His teaching invites us to approach the mystery of the cross as God’s love for humanity. 
St. John stated: “God so loved the world that he gives his only begotten son”(3:16).  There is no explanation that can express the love of Christ for us better than his passion as he died on the cross. The blessing that we have in our Faith is that we live and experience the living presence of Jesus Christ at every season in our liturgy and in our celebrations.
The season of Lent is one of the strongest seasons for all Christians. We are called to be on a journey with the Lord to focus on Jesus’ journey on the cross. This is one of the reasons in many Catholic churches we see covers on all the statues to remove any distraction, so we may better focus wholeheartedly on Jesus’ journey with the cross.
Our Holy Week tradition challenges us to remember and re-experience the events which brought about our redemption and salvation; to appreciate gratefully the price Jesus paid for our salvation, to express God’s love for us through the suffering and death of Jesus; Jesus loving us so very much.
Our meditation on these Paschal mysteries should assist us in our dying to sin and rising with Jesus, resulting in our healing reconciliation, and redemption. Yet, Jesus died on the cross to accomplish the mission of his Father, which is to save the world.
Jesus’ mission did not end on the cross, but in the resurrection, which gives sense and meaning to his suffering. Jesus is the creator of our faith and he is the only leader of a religion which has an empty tomb. That is the reason why our Easter celebrations do not only remind us of a holiday or a feast day but teach us that every Good Friday in our lives will have an Easter Sunday.
Each time we share our love with those around us, we share Jesus Christ’s resurrection. The message of Easter refers us to the beautiful hymn of God’s love in St. Paul’s letter to the Romans (8:35-37). “Nothing can separate us from the Love of Christ, not hardships or distress or persecution or lack of food and clothing or threats of violence… Nothing will be able to come between us and the Love of God, known to us in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
May the Lord of Christ continue to shine on you all during Easter Season. Happy Easter to you and your family!
The author is Parochial Vicar at Notre de La Mer Parish, Wildwood.