One of the drawings of Fr. Francis Marino, the Founder of the Anawim Community, shows Jesus hanging on the Cross, with Mary and some of the disciples at the foot of the Cross. Around the image is this inscription: We will look upon him whom we have pierced, so that the love of Christ in hearts may be revealed. This is an adaptation of several Scripture passages (Jn 19:37, Lk 2:35, and 2 Cor 4:10-12). It sums up well the central mystery of today’s Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.
Jesus told us in the Gospel last Sunday that if we want to be his disciples, we must pick up our cross and follow him. Carrying our cross, and ultimately uniting ourselves with Christ in his death upon the Cross, is not optional for his followers. Why is this? Why is the Cross so important? The Gospel Acclamation gives us an answer: “We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, because by your Cross you have redeemed the world.” The world is redeemed and reconciled to the Father through the Cross of Christ and by no other way. Sin and death are defeated by the Cross of Christ and by no other way. We are restored to our status as sons and daughters of God by the Cross of Christ and by no other way. Without the Cross of Christ, there is no salvation, there is no chance of Heaven, there is no wedding feast in which we are united to God in an eternal union of love.
The Cross is not easy to carry, and it can happen that we grow tired of carrying it. We can fall into complaining against God and his ways, as the Israelites did in today’s first reading. They knew when they left Egypt that they were heading into the desert. What were they expecting to find on their journey? They wanted freedom from what they were leaving behind, but they did not anticipate the hardships that go with choosing freedom. We also want freedom, but we quickly forget the cost. Christ told us clearly what to expect as we follow him; he told us that we must carry our cross. He warned us to sit down and think seriously about whether we want to start this “project” of being his disciple, so that we do not begin something that we are not able to finish (cf. Lk 14:28-30). We should not now be complaining about our experience of suffering, or about how heavy the Cross is at times. He told us to expect that.
To be set free from the trap of a complaining attitude, we must “look upon him whom we have pierced.” Jesus tells Nicodemus that “the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” In this case “believes in him” does not mean simply “believes that he exists.” The devil believes that Jesus exists. “Believes in him” here means believing that he is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. It means believing that he is the most important one in our lives, the center of our existence, the one on whom we fix our eyes and whom we strive to imitate.
Jesus did not complain about the mission which the Father gave him. St. Paul tells us that “he emptied himself, / taking the form of a slave, / coming in human likeness; / and found human in appearance, / he humbled himself, / becoming obedient to death, / even death on a Cross.” He humbled himself and obeyed his Father’s plan even to the point of dying on the Cross, out of love for his Father and love for us. He came to sacrifice himself so “that the world might be saved through him.”
Today is not a day of sadness but of celebration! Jesus’ death on the Cross was not a tragic accident, but the triumphant fulfillment of the Father’s plan to conquer sin and death and restore humanity and all of creation! And the wonderful thing is that we are invited to have a part in this triumphant sacrificial act. As we keep our eyes fixed on the Pierced One, and as we follow in his footsteps, allowing ourselves to be pierced with him, we make up part of the Mystical Body of Christ, offered in sacrifice for the redemption of the world. This is how the love of Christ is revealed in our own hearts.
Today is a good day to take some time and look at a crucifix, gazing on the One who has been pierced for our salvation, thanking and praising him, and begging him for the grace to join him in sacrificial love.
Why do I sometimes find myself complaining against God about the crosses he asks me to carry? What crosses am I carrying right now? How can I celebrate the triumph of Jesus’ Cross today?
Excerpt from The Anawim Way, Volume 21, no. 7. More information about The Anawim Way may be found here.