It’s hard to imagine the Church cramming any more into these days we call Holy Week. In the short span of seven days, we remember and celebrate the core truths of our salvation in the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus through powerful and unique liturgies that are unlike anything else we experience the rest of the year. We are in the middle of what is called the “Triduum”, the Latin word meaning “three days” and tonight’s liturgy is the one day of the year where no Mass is celebrated anywhere in the world. Instead, we commemorate the Lord’s Passion and venerate His cross as a sign of our love and sorrow. We will begin our tribute to Jesus’ cross in a few moments. First, consider some thoughts highlighting the importance of the cross as a symbol and instrument of our salvation.
The cross represents the intersection, or you might even say, the collision of opposites. It reflects both extreme love and hatred, death and life, defeat and victory, shame and honor, obedience and defiance, sin and grace. Just dealing in human terms, the cross overflows with meaning. It is used in our words when we say we are cross, to describe some sort of conflict. If someone is double-crossed, they have been betrayed. When we are at a crossroads, it means a decision must be made. And if you look at any good treasure map, “X”, a cross marks the spot. For the Christian, the cross represents all of these realities in our lives. The cross of Jesus sometimes means conflict with society, with our sinful selves, and even those close to us who would prefer the Gospel to be put aside. At times, when we carry the cross in our lives, we are shunned by friends and loved ones who find Jesus’ message too much. And other times we have been the ones, who deny Christ in others by acts of sin and selfishness. The cross also represents so many decisions we must make in life: “do I follow the king of kings or serve some other master?” Lastly, the cross signifies a treasure, far greater than any sum of silver or gold. The cross marks the spot where humanity was given a new beginning, new life, and freedom from sin and death.
Even before Jesus came and transformed the cross from the worst form of capital punishment into a symbol of hope and life, the seeds of its glory and the meaning were sown everywhere in the Old Testament. For example:
In the second chapter of Genesis, God creates Adam and Eve and places them in the Garden of Eden. We are told that there are many trees in the garden but two are named: the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. God tells Adam and Eve they can eat from any of the trees but just leave the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil alone, which of course, they do not. Just as a tree led to the separation of the human race from God, so too a tree, in the form of a cross will once again restore humanity to friendship with God.
In the Book of Exodus, when the people were on their journey to the Promised Land, they began to complain and rebel against God in spite of all he had done for them. As a punishment, they were bit by poisonous snakes and many of them died. Realizing their mistake, they cried out to God and he gave them a cure. He told Moses, “make a bronze serpent and mount it on a pole. Anyone who looks at this bronze serpent, which is lifted up, will be cured and brought back to health.” You and I have been bit many times by the poisonous serpent of sin, the one we know as Satan. And every time we look to Jesus on the cross, lifted up for our sake, and see the sign of his cross made over us in the sacraments of baptism and reconciliation, we are healed.
Another story from Exodus involves the Chosen People, still making their way to the Promised Land. Blocking their progress is a tribe called the Amalekites. A fierce battle ensues and Moses goes up on a hill to pray for all who are fighting on behalf of God’s people. As long as Moses holds out his hands in prayer, the Israelites start winning. But Moses keeps getting tired and when he lowers his arms, the Amalekites rally. God’s people figure this out and they help by holding up Moses’ arms in this saving position until the enemy is defeated. What does this story represent for us here on Good Friday? Jesus, the New Moses, goes up the hill of Calvary and stretches his arms out on the cross to win the battle raging between Good and Evil. Beneath the Cross, we will be victorious over the enemy on our journey to the Promised Land.
In just a few moments, I will hold up the cross and chant, “behold, the wood of the cross, on which hung the salvation of the world” and you will respond, “come let us adore.” The word “adore” comes from two Latin words “ad” and “oro” which mean “mouth to mouth.” There are two times we go mouth-to-mouth with another person. 1) when we are madly in love with them and 2) when someone resuscitates another. When we come forward to adore the cross, we have the chance to be “ad-oro” with Jesus, to show him how much we love him and to be spiritually resuscitated by the God who will do anything to bring our souls back to life.
As we move forward in prayer tonight, let us thank God for the saving power of Jesus’ cross, the tree of life. May we stand in awe of the ways God has used it to heal, protect, and redeem us. “We adore you O Christ and we praise you, because by your holy cross, you have redeemed the world!”
