As we continue our Lenten journey and reflecting upon the Cross let us prepare ourselves to go deeper by reflecting on this quote from St. Teresa of Avila: “Reflect carefully on this, for it is so important that I can hardly lay too much stress on it. Fix your eyes on the Crucified and nothing else will be of much importance to you,” and now this quote from theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar: “It is to the Cross that the Christian is challenged to follow his Master: no path of redemption can make a detour around it.”
Let us begin today’s reflection with a quote from Cardinal Thuan: “You have to make many sacrifices when you live in the midst of people who differ from you politically, socially, and ideologically. But look at the example of Jesus. He Who is God chose to live among humanity I thirty-three years of continual sacrifice.”
According to St. Augustine the Cross can be described as “The death of the Lord our God should not be a cause of shame for us; rather, it should be our greatest hope, our greatest glory. In taking upon himself the death that he found in us, he has most faithfully promised to give us life in him, such as we cannot have of ourselves.” Therefore, as we continue to dive deeper into the lessons that the Cross is trying to teach us let us ask God for the gift of wisdom.
St. Maximilian once described “the Cross is the school of love.” St. Francis De Sales called “the cross the academy of love.” Seizing on the wisdom expressed in the quotes from St. Maximilian Kolbe and St. Francis DeSales, I think it is important that each Catholic take time to explore the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ death in many different ways. One ancient way the Church has helped its members do this is through a devotion that focuses the Christian on the last Seven Words of Christ. I invite you therefore to reflect with me on these last seven words.