If we are stuck trying to understand our life through earthly terms we will never come to understand the true value of the cross. For this reason Saint Peter responded: “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.” Saint Peter did not yet understand the value of the cross for his vision was limited to this earthly realm.
No matter how hard that we try to avoid the pains of this world they will catch up to us in time. There is a difference to undergo suffering and to embrace the cross. To embrace the cross attaches a relationship of prayer and growth onto suffering. It brings value to this seemingly useless state. For this reason Christ instructed His disciples: “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.”
We live in the midst of a materialistic society which rejects this message of the cross in favor of the message of worldliness. We are taught that there is no value found in suffering. Thus a life which must face suffering without end is seen to be without purpose. We are taught that we are to accumulate around us all that we want and then we will be happy. We are taught that following our passions will bring us happiness and thus people chase after them in order to heal their pain. Despite these claims to happiness our society is found empty for it has lost sight of the value of the cross.
From the sacrificial offering of the cross comes about the true message of happiness. From the cross God takes on our human flesh and comes to offer Himself up for us as the sacrificial victim. The cross was not clean, but bloody and yet what was offered here was a total offering of self which was made out of love. There are many examples of people who have given up their life totally for the wellbeing of others. There are parents who give up sleep for their baby and later go on to sacrifice money for the wellbeing of the child. Even when we think about this hurricane which has taken place we see people who are willing to sacrifice their own life in order to save the life of another. To fathom that these glimpses into sacrificial love exist within our world and they are done as an action of love asking for nothing in return.
The cross is our avenue to enter into sacrificial love. It is easiest for us to reject the cross, but we will discover its true value whenever we come to accept the cross of our Blessed Lord into our life. In our daily life we must train ourselves to offer up our pains and sufferings unto the cross. In our daily life we must find ways to embrace the cross through mortification in order that we may come to better hear the voice of God made manifest within our life.
Let us not reject the cross due to the effects of materialism, but rather may we come to deny ourself, take up the cross, and follow after Christ always.
