Psalm 62: “In you alone is my soul at rest. My help comes from You.”

The cross is everywhere today. We see it on walls and in paintings, of course, hanging in churches and homes but also from the ears of rock stars. We see it so often that it loses its impact. In Christianity we celebrate it too, at every Eucharist and in feasts and seasons. It's also present more concretely, even emotionally, in the ills and pains of human life.

John says in his Gospel that Jesus had to be lifted up on the cross "that all who believe may have eternal life in him" (John 3:13-14). Not simply that we will have eternal life but we may have it now. Eternal life begins now, it is not only for the world to come. It shows itself in healing, renewal of spirit, in hope and joy. The cross of Christ saves us from death and also helps us now.

If we take the time in our next sorrow, bad mood, disappointment, anxiety, bitterness even, to look at the Lord on the cross, we can find it says a lot to us. It tells us, whether we are crushed by our own sorrow or that of others, that God's own son has shared human sorrow. Not only has he shared it, he is still with us in every pain and danger, assuring us that through the cross we come finally to victory and joy.

The cross tells us that the poor, the suffering, the homeless and ill, the abandoned, have a brother, a fellow sufferer in the Lord. In a most special way the Lord is with us and we are close to him when we must suffer or undergo any of the difficulties and pains we call the cross. Our sharing in the remembrance of the Lord's passion at his supper goes on outside the church in the unavoidable pains of daily life.  Even now we share eternal life with the crucified one.

Psalm 27: “I believe I shall see the Lord’s goodness / in the land of the living.

Wait for the Lord; be strong; / be stouthearted, and wait for the Lord!”

Reply to Fr. Don at: DTalafous@csbsju.edu

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