J.M.J. "We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee, because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world."
The Church prays these words during Lent, especially during
the Via Crucis ("The Stations of the Cross"), but she always ponders this stirring truth:
the Son of God redeemed sinful humanity by way of simple wood.
There are all kinds of crosses. Some are made of stone, others of wood, metal or another substance.
A different kind of "cross" is a difficult condition or circumstance that is often unpleasant for the one involved.
The Cross of Jesus was a wooden cross under which He labored
much as He wended His way along the Via Dolorosa and on which He died
for us once He reached Calvary's hill. That blessed Cross represents the
outright rejection the Messiah experienced at the hands of many of the
powerful in His day as well as His free and generous surrender to His
celestial Father that resulted in our long-awaited--and
necessary--reconciliation with the Most Blessed Trinity.
Jesus conquered Satan and his minions--the fallen angels--with
His glorious Cross. The Master's obedience to His Father in the Holy
Spirit completely turned the tide against "the prince of darkness," who
had willingly wrecked so much havoc in the universe through his own
rebellion against the Creator and his seductive tempting of our first
parents, Adam and Eve.
In 312, the Roman Emperor Constantine I the Great was in
Trier, Germany where he had an unexpected vision of a cross that
appeared in the sky with the haunting words, In hoc signum vinces ("In
this sign you conquer"). The Emperor was buoyed by the apparition and
encouraged his 20,000 troops for the upcoming bloody battle against
Maxentius and his 100,000 men. Constantine's soldiers, the majority of
whom were pagans, placed the sacred image of the cross on their shields.
The two military forces clashed near the Milvian Bridge over the Tiber
River. Maxentius succumbed in the Tiber on October 28, 312, while his
fierce legions were soundly routed.
Emperor Constantine decreed in the 313 Edict of Milan that
the worship of God performed by the Christians was from henceforth
tolerated and that Christianity was the official religion of the Roman
Empire. Furthermore, the victorious leader did not seek revenge against
his enemies but instead treated them with justice.
Constantine, particularly when facing a huge obstacle, placed
his trust in Christ and His triumphant Cross. The lesson is clear:
Jesus won over evil. We embrace His Cross when we cheerfully accept the
myriad and multiple agonies present in our lives, realizing that when
humbly yielded to, these "crosses" help to usher us into the reign of
God that has no end.
Our Catholic spirituality is based on the imitation of
Christ. Our faith assures us that if we bear His Cross now, one day we
will be rewarded in Paradise. Saint Paul wrote almost two thousand years
ago: "For if we have been united with Him in a Death like His, we shall
certainly be united to Him in a Resurrection like His." (Romans 6:5)
Such "Good News"--that Jesus conquered by His Cross and we are
summoned to do likewise--converted Emperor Constantine I the Great. May
the same be said of us.
Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.
No comments:
Post a Comment