Reveling in the Triumph of the Cross

Today the Church celebrates the Triumph of the Cross.  I love this feast day because the Cross is such a mystery, and one of the greatest paradoxes as well.  What from the worldly perspective seemed like the greatest defeat (or, for kids these days, like epic fail), is from the heavenly perspective actually the greatest victory for all of mankind.  Things haven’t changed much in 2,000 years: for many the Cross is still a “stumbling block” and utter “foolishness” (1 Cor 1:23).  But for those who have the grace to open their ears and hearts, we can understand that through the Cross “death has been swallowed up in victory” (1 Cor 15:54) and the gate of eternal life opened!

For many carrying one’s cross seems like insanity (why suffer when you can have pleasure?), but the Cross is the truest way we unite with Jesus.  It’s the way we participate in our redemption and the way we “complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of His Body, that is, the Church” (2 Cor 12:9).  The Cross is the way we follow Jesus, the way we imitate Him, and the way we mold our own lives into it’s proper cruciform shape!

Let us all embrace the Cross, and revel in its triumph!  And may It bring us all to everlasting life…