THE triumph of
the Cross
(24th
Sunday in Ordinary time)
Fr. Joseph Nguyen, O.P.
For
generations, the cross had been identified with shame, defeat and death. Among
capital penalties, hanging on a cross had been the most horrible punishment,
reserved only for notorious criminals. And the Jews condemned Christ to
crucifixion, because they considered him such a criminal!
But
precisely when dying on the cross, Christ has changed the meaning and fate of
the cross : from a sign of shame to a symbol of glory; from a hideous death
penalty to a sign of hope and a reward of life; from a curse of destruction to
a blessing of salvation. Today people no longer despise the cross, but they
glorify, honor, venerate the cross. They kiss the cross, they embrace the
cross. Nations no longer condemn the cross, but they worship the cross and pray
to the cross. St. Andrew, seeing the cross reserved for his crucifixion, cried
out with joy : ”Oh the cross, the tree of life, I have been longing for you all my
life!”
Millions
of martyrs the world over were willing to die for the sake of the cross. They
were willing to exchange everything for the cross of Christ : money, social
position, beauty, riches and even their life. And billions of Christians today
are proud of the cross. They are proud of being called the disciples of the
cross. They make the sign of the cross when they wake up in the morning and
before going to bed in the evening; they make the sign of the cross before
going to work and after a long working day; they make the sign of the cross
before and after every meal; they make the sign of the cross in good luck and
in bad luck, in happiness and in danger, in success and in failure. We have
seen soccer players make the sign of the cross after they score a goal.
And
specially at the moment of death, if Christians are to choose between the cross
and everything else that people ordinarily desire, they will surely choose the
cross of Christ. They feel more secure to die with the cross on their chest rather
with money, gold and diamond around them.
Nowadays, looking around we see the
cross everywhere: in the streets, markets, public parks, schools, monuments.
We find the cross on top of bell towers, on roof of churches, on gates of
private homes, on ships, boats, airplanes, private cars, trucks, trains, buses,
taxis. The cross is embroidered on vestments, on fashion dresses, on caps and
hats. Young people wear earrings, necklaces, rings with the image of the cross
carved on them. St. Paul
A woman had a serious heart defect. The
doctor told her that the only way to save her life was a heart surgery. At the
time, when anesthesia had not been invented, live operations would be extremely
painful. The woman agreed to the operation, on the condition that her only son
be allowed to enter the operating room to witness the operation. As the knife
of the doctor touched her heart, she screamed out of pain. Seeing that, the son
angered and began blaming God for the pain his mother was undergoing. Suddenly,
the woman, with her eyes wide-open, looked straight at her son and said : “You
stupid, my son. Why do you blame God for the suffering I am going through.” Then,
opening her right hand with a small cross on it, she said, “Don’t you know that thanks to
this cross that I am able to bear all this pain?”
Indeed, the death of Christ on the cross
has changed the people’s view on the cross. They no longer look down on the
cross as a figure of shame and infamy. Instead, they look up to the cross as a
sign of hope and a symbol of salvation, because from now on no one will ever be
saved without the cross of Jesus. And today, the Church honors the cross
precisely because it frees us from eternal death and brings us salvation.
Happy Birthday to Fr. Joseph Nguyen, O.P.
