Every time we come into the Church we have the opportunity to glance upon something that is very counter cultural. What I am speaking about is the cross of our Lord where we will notice that He is found attached to the cross, not separated from it. Hopefully we do not allow ourself to easily pass by the crucifix found within the Church, within our own home, or around our own neck without our minds being attracted not only to our Lord, but also to what He was willing to endure for each of us. In our meditation upon the crucifixion we must each realize that we have contributed to it and thus we must allow the cross to assist us in accepting sacrifice and coming to embrace true conversion. From Venerable Fulton Sheen: "The Soviet Union is like the cross without Christ, while American culture is like Christ without the cross."
Indeed Saint Peter desired to have it this way. He wanted to have a relationship with Christ, but desired to deny the reality of the cross. He wanted to hear the words that Christ would proclaim, but he desired to separate them from action. He wanted the comfort that Christ brought into his life, but he was unwilling to embrace the pains that this relationship would lead towards. He was content with his life as he knew it and therefore was found unwilling to be pressed into change for the sake of the Heavenly Kingdom. Through Saint Peter's denial of our Lord we can see his fear and his lack of trust. Through his denial we can also find each of us who so easily desire to proclaim Christ to be our Lord, but are unwilling to accept the pains of the cross that come with such a proclamation.
Pope Francis's first homily as pope attests to this through saying: "When we journey without the Cross, when we build without the Cross, when we profess Christ without the Cross, we are not disciples of the Lord, we are worldly: we may be bishops, priests, cardinals, popes, but not disciples of the Lord." May we truly listen to these words from our Holy Father because they invite us to become true disciples of the Lord who are always willing to put their faith into action. So many easily proclaim their faith in Christ, but are unwilling to actually express it by their life. The cross shows to us that our faith must be put into action, and therefore cannot only be mere words. Of course what this may lead us towards may indeed be most uncomfortable for us, this was also uncomfortable for Saint Peter, this was also uncomfortable for the apostles, and yes the pains of the cross were also uncomfortable for Christ.
Despite how uncomfortable this reality may be to embrace we are told: "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me." When we are able to come to heed these words that are proclaimed by Christ we will be able to show that our faith is not just words, but is also our actions. Every single time that we pass by the cross we cannot actually say that we have embraced conversion and thus have become true disciples of our Lord. Instead through coming to embrace the cross we realize the value of our sacrifice, the reality of the need for conversion, we see the mercy that Christ extends to us, and yes eventually we will see the true happiness that Christ desired Saint Peter and His apostles to discover through the cross. May we not fear the cross nor may we pass by it as if it is something that is to be despised. May the cross be truly embraced by each of us that we may put our faith into action and truly become disciples of the Lord.
So often we might hear from people of other faith traditions the question of why the crucifix and not the cross because after all our Lord has risen, so why continue to hold Him to the cross. Indeed our Lord has truly risen, the Church does not deny this reality, but we must remember that we were not saved by a cross. We were saved by the sacrifice that was offered by Christ upon the cross. Whenever we glance upon the crucifix, we join with Mary who looked upon the cross where her Son hung and we truly in the words of Saint Paul are able "to proclaim Him crucified." The crucifix serves as a reminder that we are each called to become true disciples who thus have been called to embrace the pains of the cross. The cross brings value to our relationship with Christ because it shows that none of our suffering is made in vain, it shows that we have each been redeemed through this sacrifice, and it shows that our faith must always be put into action. May we not take the gift of the crucifix for granted, but instead may we allow it to transform our life to better be able to love and live our life of faith by becoming true disciples of the Lord.
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