Additional Thoughts on The Cross

St. Theodorus (the Estudite) said, “With the cross we are freed … [to] clutch on to the strength of salvation.”

St. Leo the Great put it this way, “… the sign of the cross makes Kings (& Queens) of all those reborn in Christ.”  (The Magnificat, 09-2008, pgs. 184-185)

St. Francis deSales wrote, “In life we seek God. In death we meet God.  In eternity we possess God.”

The most important thing to remember about The Cross is  “When Jesus died on the cross He was thinking of you!  When He rose from the dead He was thinking of you.  Now in the Kingdom He is thinking of you!  You are precious to Him!  So, Let us work for the happiness of others.”  [Saint Leonie Aviat]

Bishop Barron writes, “St. Paul tells us … that he boasts in the cross of Jesus. To any of his hearers in the first century this would have sounded like madness. Paul can boast in this shameful thing precisely because God has raised Jesus from death and thereby placed the world—the realm of hatred, violence, and division—under judgment. Now we must have the courage to leave the world and enter into the new creation, which is the Body of Christ.”

“The essential background to the cross, therefore, is a balanced understanding of the gravity of sin and the majesty of God. If we diminish either, we thereby diminish the cross.” (John Stott, The Cross of Christ, pg. 111)

The mystery of Jesus on the Cross, is the flip side of the mystery of Jesus’ Resurrection, both are gifts in our salvation. Let the Cross remind us that suffering is temporary, and death is not the end – let’s live knowing that Jesus will make all things holy in his heavenly kingdom.

May God Be Blessed!