Look to the Cross and find Freedom

What a Paradox that Christ could not become a saving entity to bring us freedom had sin never occurred. Sin, as much as it is, presents a dark cloak of fear until we understand it was necessary in order for us to hear about God who saved us through suffering. Pagans who worshipped false gods, one for every facet of their lives, never would have believed that any of these gods would become a sacrifice for them. Yet, we must know that for a father to show his love to any of his children, sometimes suffering becomes necessary, whether it is money, time or embarrassment to save that child's integrity.

Who would have believed that we no sooner took advantage of sneaking something wrong and running to hide and found God standing there with a smile of love, already forgiving our weakness as a mortal. That is what the very essence of the Cross is all about.

For just as through the disobedience of one person the many were made sinners, so through the obedience of one many will be made righteous. The law entered in so that transgressions might increase but, where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through justification for eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Rom 5: 19 - 21).

Without baptism we find no rampart against concupiscence. Conversion to Christ, the new birth of Baptism, the gift of the Holy Spirit and the Body and Blood of Chtist received as food have made us “holy and without blemish,” just as the Church herself, the Bride of Christ,is “holy and without blemish.” Nevertheless the new life received in Christian initiation has not abolished the frailty and weakness of human nature, nor the inclination to sin that tradition calls concupiscence, which remains in the baptized such that with the help of the grace of Christ they may prove themselves in the struggle of Christian life. “This is the struggle of conversion directed toward holiness and eternal life to which the Lord never ceases to call us.” (CCC 1426).

As I wrote previously, the cross without a Corpus is just that; a cross. No doubt the tremendous number of people wearing a cross is heart-warming because more people are finding Jesus in their lives and are willing to display his symbol of a supreme sacrifice that has given meaning to the word forgiveness.

The heading “Look to the Cross And find Freedom” denotes more than forgiveness, it resounds with God through Christ inviting us mortals to live with him without cost and with grace from his Heart. Of all the crucifixes I have given out I reminded the recipients that this reminds us of what He did for us. That should become a mantra that we visualize in faith.

Ralph B. Hathaway