Your Cross

Embracing our crosses so they go from being burdens to blessings

04/14/2017

Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9

Brothers and sisters: Since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God,  let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has similarly been tested in every way, yet without sin. So let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help. In the days when Christ was in the flesh, he offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered; and when he was made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.

          I’ll never forget a conversation I had with my spiritual director while I was in the seminary. My spiritual director was Msgr. Gaston Hebert. I told him I was really struggling and not sure about being a priest, I was unhappy with the lack of good grades, the lack of a girl friend, and the lack of good food. He simply said in reply, “John, this is your cross, and you must carry your cross if you want to follow Jesus.” I remember being surprised to hear that, and even being surprised that I was surprised! After all, we study all about the cross in the seminary: we read about it in the Bible, we see it carried in the lives of the saints, we hear theologians talk about its blessings. So, I knew what the cross was intellectually, but it is a whole new thing when it’s your cross, personally. I learned I was not really expecting to carry a cross, and maybe even secretly hoping for an easy life as a priest: working only on Sundays, eating free in Mexican restaurants, and getting out of speeding tickets. It came as a shock, therefore, that my life would be hard, that there would be a real and heavy cross to carry, and that cross would even have my name on it: my personal cross.

          Maybe that’s why all crosses are heavy: we’re not really expecting to carry one, we secretly hope our lives will be carefree and comfortable without any cross at all. But I also realized that once I embraced that cross – hugged it hard to my chest – suddenly it didn’t seem so heavy any more. That’s another reason our cross seems so huge and heavy: we try to run from it. When we stop running from our crosses and turn and and face them squarely, and set them on our shoulders, they lose all the terror and tragedy. Instead, they become a fountain of faith and freedom, indeed, even of joy. In short, your cross goes from being a burden to being a blessing.

          In the second reading today, the Letter to the Hebrews makes the same point: Jesus’ cross went from being a burden to being a blessing. Hebrews says: “Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered; and when he was made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.” Hebrews almost suggests Jesus may have been surprised to have to suffer since he was the Son of God, “Son though he was.” Why should the Son of God have to suffer??  We all remember how Jesus tried to get out from carrying the Cross while he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemani. But like Msgr. Hebert advised me, so Jesus accepted his cross. What happened when he did? Hebrews continues, “He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.” In other words, once Jesus fully embraced the cross, it went from being a burden to being a blessing. More than being a blessing for him personally, it became a blessing for everyone universally, for all who obey him.

          My friends, sooner or later God will ask each of you to carry a cross, too. Don’t be like me and be surprised on that day, thinking you should have a carefree and comfortable life. That’s not the life a Christian signs up for. To help you shoulder your cross, the one with your name on it, your personal cross, let me conclude with a prayer by St. Francis de Sales (one of the greatest spiritual directors in the history of the Church). I guess all good spiritual directors give the same advice. 

          St. Francis de Sales wrote: “The everlasting God has in his wisdom foreseen from all eternity the cross that he now presents to you as a gift from his inmost heart. This cross he now sends you he has considered with his all-knowing eyes, understood with his divine mind, tested with his wise judgment, warmed with his loving arms and weighed with his own hands to see that it not be one inch too large and not one ounce too heavy for you. He has blessed it with his holy Name, anointed it with his consolation, taken one last glance at you and your courage, and then sent it to you from heaven, a special greeting from God to you, an alms of the all-merciful love of God.” In other words, your cross has been custom-fitted and tailored for you, and not for anyone else. It bears your name. And if you dare to embrace it, and hug it hard to your chest, your cross, too, will turn from being a burden to being a blessing.

          Praised be Jesus Christ!