Parish Priest, “When you come for next Sunday Mass, each head of the family should bring with him a cross to be blessed; the blessed cross must be placed on a prominent place in the house.”
One gentle man forgot to bring a cross.
At a particular point of time during the Mass the Priest said, “Lift up your cross.”
All those who had brought the crosses lifted them.
Our gentleman didn’t know what to do.
Suddenly reacting to a thought that flashed in his mind, he caught hold of his wife who was on her knees by his side and lifted her up with both his hands.
The people around him were astonished. How dared he to accept such a truth in public!
This is not a joke!
The rightness or wrongness of what our gentleman did is a different question .The reality contained in this incident is that the cross we have to carry in our life may be in different forms. As per Our Lord’s instruction, we have to take up our cross and follow Him.
Jesus also said to his disciples, If any man has a mind to come my way, let him renounce self, and take up his cross, and follow me.(Matthew.16:24”)
Jesus came to this world to sacrifice Himself on the Cross as atonement for our sins.
He carried the Cross Himself to Mount Calvary to be crucified there.
On the way of the Cross one Simon helped Him a bit.
Just as Jesus carried His Cross, we, His followers, should carry our crosses.
By cross Jesus does not refer to the wooden Cross that He carried.
He refers to the sufferings in our life.
There is no one in this world without suffering in one form or other.
We must accept the suffering for the love of Jesus.
We must remember that Jesus accepted His Cross out of love for us.
We too must carry our cross out of our love for Jesus.
Jesus has asked us to carry ‘our cross’.
I have stressed ‘our cross’.
We need not go in search of a cross to carry.
It is more than enough if we carry the cross that comes on our way.
The cross that comes across us is our cross. It may be in different forms.
It may be in the form of people we meet with, the things we use, physical illness and failures.
Whatever is against our wish is a cross.
The people around us may think and act against our wish; that may result in our physical or mental pain.
We must accept that pain for the love of Jesus and offer it to God as atonement for our sins.
Any act of our neighbours, whether they are our family members, relatives or friends, which give us physical or mental pain, may be offered to God as atonement for our sins.
Even failures in our life can be turned into meritorious acts if we offer them to God.
Suppose we fail in our school examinations, in spite of our hard work, we can accept it as God’s will and offer it for His greater glory and thus turn our worldly failures into spiritual success. The failure is a cross that offers itself to be carried by us in our spiritual journey.
Cross may come in the form of physical illness. We must bear it patiently and offer it to God, turning our physical pain into spiritual joy.
Whatever is against our temporal welfare can become supportive to our spiritual welfare if we carry it as a cross and follow Jesus.
Jesus carried His cross to redeem us.
Let us carry our cross to be redeemed by Jesus.
Lourdu Selvam.
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