Contemplating the Cross (this Passiontide)

We enter the days when we especially meditate on the CROSS of Christ, which ought to excite in us a greater horror of sin, and a deeper appreciation of God's love for us.

As we meditate on the Passion of our Blessed Lord we are bound to see the inexpressible and boundless love God has for us. “Before the Incarnation of the Eternal Word, says a celebrated author, man might doubt whether God loved him tenderly or not; but now that Jesus Christ became man and died for us, such a doubt is impossible” (St. Alphonsus Liguori).

Perhaps we have grown so accustomed to hear of the crucifixion of our Lord that it makes but little impression on us. Yet if we will only consider more deeply the love with which our Lord endured the unimaginable torture leading to His ignominious death on the Cross we will be forced, as it were, to love Him in return.

Many Saints were accustomed to reflecting on the Passion and were inflamed with love for our Lord, that they frequently gave vent to their astonishment and devotion (and even wept). “One day, in an ecstasy of devotion, St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi caught hold of an image of the Crucified and exclaimed: ‘O Jesus, Thou hast become foolish with love'” (as quoted by St. Alphonsus Liguori). “At the sight of a crucifix, St. Francis of Paul exclaimed: ‘O love, O love, O love! As St. Bonaventure has said, the wounds of our Saviour must move the most unfeeling hearts and warm the coldest souls with love.” (St. Alphonsus).

A meditation on the Cross will also excite in us a deeper horror of sin. As we look at the Cross our eyes will be opened to the horror of sin and perhaps exclaim, “that is what sin can do!”; and hopefully we will experience an intense sorrow for our sins. “Blessed is the man who is intensely sorry for his sin, the man who is heart-broken for what his sin has done to God and Jesus Christ, the man who sees the Cross and who is appalled by the havoc wrought by sin.” (William Barclay). Then we realize, as St. Francis of Assisi puts it, that “it is you (we) who have crucified him and crucify him still, when you (we) delight in your (our) vices and sins”.

Hopefully this will lead us to begin to see sin not in a generic way, but see how our particular sins, even venial sins (and their underlying faults), are an insult to God, a monstrous act of
ingratitude, a mockery of Christ, the greatest evil there is. Such a deep realization of what sin is and what it does will then begin to CHANGE US.

[On a practical note, “if we fully understand the meaning of the Cross, we will no longer run the risk of finding life sad or ugly. We will only become more attentive to its incomprehensible seriousness” (Teilhard de Chardin).]

As we, in silence, reflect on our lives vis a vis the Cross may we see the evil of our sins, be led to genuine repentance and a deeper appreciation of the boundless love of God for us. May we mourn our sins, and may this sorrow-filled repentance eventually lead to the joy of forgiveness. (See Matt 5:4). For “a humble and contrite heart God will never despise” (Ps 51: 17). Through all these may we be inflamed with a greater love for God.