Have you ever taken a few minutes to gaze upon the Cross and the Christ who hangs upon it? Perhaps you have wondered about its meaning, or how Christ endured such suffering for so long. Even more profound is that the Christ hanging on the Cross calls us to take up our cross daily and follow Him (Luke 9:23). He does not merely ask us to carry our crosses; He leads us by the way of the Cross, having first carried His own for our salvation.
The Cross He carried bore the weight of our sins and opened for us the way to redemption. It was not a burden He deserved, yet He embraced it freely out of love for the Father and for humanity. He was laid upon the Cross instead of a bed; He was nailed to it, and insults were hurled at Him instead of words of comfort. He was pierced with a lance and cried out from the Cross.
Though He experienced the depths of human suffering, He assured the repentant thief of eternal life. Though He was mocked and derided, He forgave and entrusted Himself to the Father. Finally, He surrendered His life upon the wood of the Cross.
Yet Christ bore it all with love, mercy and steadfast obedience, for the salvation of you and me, even when we did not deserve it. The Cross, which appeared to be the place of defeat, became the altar of our redemption and the path to victory. Christ endured the Passion with trust in the Father and in the promise of the Resurrection. The Cross was rough and marked by suffering, yet it was raised in victory; clothed in pain, yet it bears the regalia of hope, peace, joy, faith and unconditional love.
WHAT DOES YOUR CROSS LOOK LIKE?
Perhaps you are enduring a cross today. Your cross may be the loneliness no one sees, the silent tears, the rejection that still hurts, the pain of losing a loved one, the disappointment of an unanswered prayer, the burden of providing for your family, the uncertainty about the future, or a wound hidden beneath a smile.
Whatever your cross may be, remember that Christ does not look upon your suffering from a distance. He knows what it means to be mocked, wounded, exhausted, abandoned, misunderstood and rejected. When your cross becomes too burdensome, do not look only at the weight upon your shoulders. Look at Christ, who carried His Cross before you. The Christian does not suffer alone, because Christ has entered fully into human suffering and, through His Passion, has opened the way to hope and new life.
Perhaps, then, the question is not only, “Why must I carry this cross?” but also, “Lord, where are You in the midst of this?”
If you gaze long enough at Calvary, you may discover that Christ is not absent from your suffering. He is there, walking alongside you, strengthening you and holding you when you can no longer hold yourself. He invites you to unite your sufferings with His and to trust that, in Him, even suffering can become an offering of love and a participation in His saving work.
Look upon the Christ who hangs upon the Cross. Gaze upon Him, and you will begin to understand your own pain. He did not abandon the way to Calvary. He did not turn away from the Cross, regardless of its cost. He did not give up, even when His strength was failing. He remained faithful, even when those for whom He suffered rejected, denied and forgot Him. Christ remained steadfast in love and obedience to the Father, with our reconciliation with God as the fruit of His saving sacrifice.
Just spare a gentle gaze upon the Cross and Christ who hung upon it. There, you will find that pain can have meaning, purpose and a sacrificial dimension beyond our imagination. There, you will find the hand of Christ extended to hold yours, an embrace warm enough to ease your pain, and the One who understands the depth and length of your sorrow.
The challenges of life will never cease, and the Cross will never be absent from our daily lives. But from Christ, who understands our pain and embraced His own Cross for our joy and salvation, we must draw the strength to persevere and never give up.
When your own cross feels too burdensome, look again at His.
When your pain seems meaningless, gaze upon His.
When hope seems distant, remember that the Cross was never the end.
There is hope beyond the pain.
There is love beneath the wounds.
There is strength beneath the weakness.
Beyond the Cross, there is Resurrection.
BY SR. MARIA DAVINA MBAH, IHM
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