By Father Rich Tomkosky
In Sacred Scripture, we see three different responses to the cross including the exterior or interior trials and difficulties of this earthly life that call us to die to ourselves. Jeremiah cries out in desperation and frustration to the Lord at the state of his life. Peter tries to take the easy way out and avoid suffering, pain, and difficulty for Jesus, but also for himself. Paul tells us we are to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice to the Lord, our spiritual worship.
What do we do when we face the Cross? The crosses can be exterior crosses including family and relationship problems, health problems, people being difficult, troubles at work, home, or school, the spiritual trial of most serious Catholics of worrying about children or grandchildren or other family and friends who have drifted away or left the Catholic faith, or as a pastor worrying about the parishioners who are not practicing the faith at this time for whatever reason (See the example of Saint Monica and Saint Augustine who we honored recently in the Church to give us hope with this heavy Cross: Monica for 17 years prayed for her husband’s conversion, then for an additional 15 years for Augustine’s). The crosses can be interior crosses, such as feeling unappreciated, not feeling loved, experiencing a broken heart, feeling used in any variety of ways by others, suffering from spiritual trials like dryness of soul, difficulties in faith and prayer, and temptations of various sorts.
The real temptation when facing the Cross is to turn in on ourselves or to put up a variety of defense mechanisms against God and other people, or to try to “escape” the pain somehow. There are many ways we human beings try to run away from the Cross. It could be we numb ourselves with drugs, or drinking, or escape into the evil fantasy world of pornography and impurity with self and others; we may try to kill the pain by excessive gambling or by indulging in overeating or by going out on an impulsive shopping spree. We may think that another romantic relationship with physical intimacy will heal the emptiness/loneliness of our heart and soul. We may say we are not going to love anymore because we have been hurt too many times by other people and it’s not worth the pain and suffering involved, etc. All these so called “escapes” lead to inner emptiness. The ultimate solution to all this is to turn to Jesus and unite our Cross with His Cross. And to ask our Lady to draw us to her heart.
When we look at Jesus on the Cross, what do we see? Something that makes no sense at all? An innocent man is dying? That the very Son of God is dying for me? Or that I need to unite myself with Him on the Cross and offer myself with Him for souls – for my own and others (see Romans 12:1-2) and our Lady of Fatima’s message?! Saint Paul sums this up in one of the most beautiful passages in all of Sacred Scripture, which I picked to put on my priestly ordination card back in 2000: “I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship.” And he goes on to say, “Do not conform yourselves to this age, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good pleasing and perfect.”
By embracing the Cross in love, our inner self will be transformed into the image of Jesus, and we will start to view reality the way He does. Our minds will be transformed like when we are tempted to fall into despair, like Jeremiah was – until he gave himself once again over to the Lord’s service; or like Peter when he was looking for the wide road of avoiding suffering, pain and difficulty, let’s look at Jesus on the Crucifix and remember what Saint Paul said about “offering our bodies as a living sacrifice to the Lord, our spiritual worship.” And then as Jesus tells us in the Gospel, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. What profit would it be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?”
Jesus is saying that if we run from the cross, we will end up away from Him – in this life and possibly in the next life forever. The consolation is, if we are willing to persevere and get back up when we fall under the weight of the Cross, God will be there with His grace. Sometimes it seems like we are tried beyond our strength; but if we turn to God and cry out for His help, it is then that we draw closest to Him in this world (Saint John of the Cross); we will see this fully in eternity when the darkness of faith leads to the clarity of vision. God bless you.
Father Rich Tomkosky is the Pastor of Saint Thomas the Apostle Parish in Bedford and Seven Dolors of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Beans Cove.
Excellent content provided by https://www.dioceseaj.org/.
