Jesus’ Call from the Cross

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about the Cross and how painful it must have been for Jesus.  Not just physically, and not just because of the seeming separation He felt from His Father which made Him cry out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”  But because of us.

I can’t imagine the pain of being on the Cross, knowing and suffering for each and every sin we would commit.  I can’t imagine the pain of being on that Cross, knowing how many of us would never come to accept Him as Savior.  I can’t imagine the pain of offering absolutely everything He could possibly offer for us, and still knowing it wouldn’t be enough to secure every person’s fiat.

Looking at a crucifix I never ceased to be amazed at how much He loves me and how little I love Him in return.  He has given everything for me, but somehow too often it still doesn’t feel like enough to me.  Love has perfectly poured out Himself in total self-gift and yet how often I am unable or unwilling to receive that love!

He not only gave His Body and Blood on the Cross, He continues to offer them to me each day in the Mass.  He not only merited all the grace the world could ever need on the Cross, He continues to offer it abundantly to me each second of every day.

Sometimes I can almost hear Him cry out, “What else can I do?  What else can I give that I have not already given?  What else will it take?!”  I can almost hear this plea every time I sin, every time I become more attached to the things of this world rather than the next, every time I settle for pale imitations of His love instead of the real thing.

The Cross is a constant reminder that He loves us and has given us, and continues to give us, everything we need to respond in kind.  Let us hear His call and give ourselves to Him more wholeheartedly, embrace His will more fully, and love more deeply.

Mary, Mother of God

Today the Church celebrates the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God!  It’s so fitting that a week after we celebrate the birth of Christ our King we then celebrate our Queen Mother, who gave Him to us.  Just as certain Old Testament figures foreshadowed Jesus, so too for Mary:

• Mary’s role is foreshadowed in the Old Testament in the office of the “Gebirah” – the Great Lady
• The Gebirah was the mother of the king (never the wife), and she was in charge of dynastic succession (a massively powerful position!)
• She was also the principle intercessor for the people of Israel to the king
• As mother of the king, the power of her role extended over the whole kingdom her son occupied
• The wives bowed before the king, but king Solomon bowed before his mother! (See 1 King 2:19)

We also see Elizabeth acknowledge Mary’s role in the New Testament when she calls Mary “the mother of my Lord.”  This doesn’t strike our ears as anything special, but in the ancient Jewish world this was the specific title of the Gebirah!  So Elizabeth was acknowledging that since Mary was pregnant with the King of kings, Mary therefore was the new Gebirah – the Queen.  These powerful titles all reinforce Mary’s most fundamental and honored title of Mother of God!

Mary, the Mother of God and the new Gebirah, is the principle intercessor between us (the people of God’s kingdom) and our King.  On account of the Lord’s dominion, her power extends over His whole kingdom – that is, over each one of us!  And if that isn’t enough, Jesus explicitly gave Mary to us as our mother from the Cross (See Jn 19:27). So today we celebrate Mary not only as “Mother of God”, but as our mother as well!  Let us turn to her in confidence and in love, knowing that Mary, the perfect mother, will lead us ever deeper into the love of her Son.

P.S.: A small apologetical note: since Jesus honors and loves His Mother, we too are called to do so.  In fact, this is why it is impossible to love or honor Mary “too much.”  Because no matter how much we do so, it will never match how much Jesus loves and honors her!

The Power of Prayer for Those We Love

For most of my life I didn’t understand the point of prayer.  God knows the future, I can’t change His will – why bother praying?  In Making Time for Prayer I talked a little about why prayer matters for us as individuals, but just as important is why our prayer matters for those we love.  But if everyone has free will, and we can’t change God’s will, what exactly can our prayer do for them?

God has given prayer immense power because through it we can release graces that He has been waiting to bestow on us and on others.  Does He need our intercession to dispense His grace?  Of course not.  But He loves us and wants us to participate in the work begun by His Son.  So God has ordained that for certain graces to be released they must be called down by you and me in prayer!  This is why St. Paul wrote, “I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men” (1 Tim 2:1).

I had a teacher explain it in this memorable way: if a parent wants to bake cookies, he doesn’t need his three-year-old’s help.  In fact, letting little Johnny help will result in the process taking longer, creating more of a mess, and the cookies themselves coming out not quite as perfectly.  But the father loves his child, and so it’s his pleasure to make Johnny happy by letting him help.  It lets Johnny know his dad loves him, that he’s important.  It’s an analogy that fits well with prayer because our Father doesn’t need our prayers to rain down any of His blessings.  But He loves us, and has given us the dignity of knowing that what we do matters, for ourselves and for others.  So He chooses to let us help through prayer (needless to say this holds true for many other actions related to salvation).

Yet the analogy eventually breaks down because whether or not the cookies get baked doesn’t matter, but whether or not we pray is of the greatest importance.  If our prayers have an effect, the natural corollary is that a failure to pray also has an effect (or lack of an effect).  If God has reserved certain blessings to be released only when we pray, then that means He won’t release them unless we pray.  Sometimes I honestly don’t feel like praying, but this thought always drives me to my knees.  My prayers matter, they are needed.  And so are yours, for your family, friends and all others you pray for!

It can be tempting to view prayer as an obligation or a burden, but in truth it’s an immense privilege.  Through prayer, God has given us the great gift (and, admittedly, responsibility) of being able to play a part in the salvation of others.  How amazing is that?  You and I get to affect other people’s eternities!

I can’t wait for the day when all will be revealed in Heaven and we (God willing we’re there!) will know the many people whose prayers and actions brought us closer to the Lord.  And we likewise will be able to see the incredible effects our prayers and good deeds had on others, even on those we never met.  Oh what rejoicing there will be as we thank the Lord for all the people who have made a difference for us, and together spend eternity glorifying Him!

Special thanks to Dave Turri for witnessing to this truth in such a powerful way that (way-back-when) it made me rethink my prayer life

Celebrating the Triumph of the Cross

Today the Church celebrates the Triumph or Exaltation of the Cross.  The Cross might seem like a strange thing to be focusing on, not only for our non-Catholic brethren but especially for non-Christians.  Who wants to glorify an instrument of torture?  Why do Catholics keep Christ on the Cross when instead the focus could be on the Resurrection?  Catholics are in good company – we glorify the Cross, and especially the Crucifix (where Jesus is on the Cross), as St. Paul did.  He writes, “we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles…For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men” (1 Cor 1:23, 25).

Crucifixion by Diego Velazquez

We venerate the Cross because the moment in which the Word Made Flesh seemed the weakest would become the moment when He was strongest.  Because though on the Cross it seemed like evil would triumph, the Cross was instead lifted up for the salvation of mankind.  But above all, we celebrate the Triumph of the Cross because it is the surest proof of God’s love for us.

As Fulton Sheen wrote, “Every other person who ever came into this world came into it to live.  [Jesus] came into it to die.”  God became man to die on the Cross, so that man might be redeemed and brought back into His fold.  Love is shown most in sacrifice, and nowhere was Christ’s sacrifice for us greater than on the Cross we exalt today.  Jesus loved us most on the Cross, so how can we not love Him most on the Cross?

I think it’s also important to remember the Cross because we all have of our crosses to bear.  Jesus is risen from the dead, but the world is still filled with pain and suffering, with trials and tests.  Focusing on the example set by Jesus carrying His Cross can help us to carry our own.  Since He carried His Cross for us, we can surely carry our cross (which is so much lighter!) for Him.  Today also serves as a reminder that we do not carry our crosses alone.  Jesus both carried His Cross for us then and continues to help us carry our crosses now.

We should spend some time every day meditating on the Cross, but especially today!!  We adore You oh Christ and we praise You, because by Your holy Cross You have redeemed the world.