40 Crosses for 40 Days: 23rd Cross - The Signs of Life Cross

It doesn't sound quite right, to call the cross carved into a marker for one of the Outdoor Stations of the Cross a "Sign of Life" cross. Yet today, as I was unexpectedly walking around our parish campus with one of our volunteers' dogs, in the midst of a Spring Break Catholic Soccer Camp, that was the realization I came to. (You never know what's going to happen during a typical day in parish life.) All these crosses, carved into each of the Stations of the Cross markers on the outdoor path, are indeed Signs of Life, even as they adorn Jesus' bloody path to death at the same time. How is that?

The simple answer is that Jesus' death gives us life, and signs of His life become visible when you do things like walk a dog around an outdoor Stations of the Cross path, in the midst of a Spring Break Catholic Soccer Camp, at a Catholic Church.

We are embodied people, placed in a material world. We are not, nor will we ever be, angelic beings who exist without a body. There is a short period of time in which our soul separates from our body, resulting in death. But this state will ultimately be rectified when our bodies are resurrected and (we hope and believe) glorified like Jesus' body was. Our ultimate destiny is to be embodied once again.

Jesus also had a body. He was incarnated into a human body that was His own being, His own flesh and blood, just as much as our bodies uniquely signify us, making us humans. If Jesus had not had a body, then He could not have offered it up on a cross for us, either. He could not have suffered. He could not have died. He most certainly could not have resurrected and ascended. His body was important. It mattered. It made His mission possible.

Jesus also had a body, and He will keep that body for all eternity.

Without Jesus' body, there would be no outdoor Stations of the Cross path to walk around with a dog. There would be no Catholic Soccer Camp, where kids are invited to come and run and jump and play, to talk about integration, and hug themselves and thank God for the gift of their bodies, for the ability to kick and leap, to breathe and laugh. There would be no sports camp that connects the life of an athlete, with all the discipline, sacrifice and teamwork that entails, with the Christian life, a life also rooted in discipline, sacrifice and community.

The crosses on these wooden markers remind us of the physical aspect of Jesus' life. He took on human nature at His incarnation and He will keep that nature for the rest of eternity. If this is what Jesus did, does now, and ever will do, then we, too, should also take seriously the care and use of what is embodied - from our four-footed friends to ourselves.

Let us pray: Holy Trinity, we thank you for the gift of being embodied. Help us to protect and care for what You have created, that we may see signs of Your life in nature and especially in each other. And in all things, let us praise You. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

PS. If you look closely, you can see the kids and volunteers at Catholic Soccer Camp reflected in the glass.

P.S.S. There's nothing like a happy dog to remind us of the joy of being embodied!