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the theological significance of the cross in Catholicism and Christianity, emphasizing its role in convicting of sin and offering salvation through Jesus’ sacrifice. Highlighting the transformative power of the cross, turning it from a symbol of death to one of victory and healing, and stressed the importance of belief and repentance for receiving forgiveness and eternal life.
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Father Randy: Jesus says in John 3, 15, Just as Moses lifted up a serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. Just as the Israelites were healed by looking at the very thing that brought them death and repenting of the choice they made, so we are healed by Jesus on the cross. Because it is in Jesus on the cross that we see our sins, that we see the consequences of them.
Father Randy: In our crucified Lord, in his wounds, in the shame that he endured, we see physically expressed what sin does, what it does to us. But of course, that’s not all that Jesus does. He doesn’t just show us, you know, how badly we screwed up. He doesn’t just show us, you know, what we’re experiencing on the inside. He forgives our sins. He takes them away. God loves us so much that he takes on our sins and our sufferings on the cross.
Father Randy: so that we would have eternal life with him. The cross is exalted today because through it, we have been saved. And by it, we know who God is, that God is love, and that he loves to the extent of sacrifice his own life for us. So like the serpent in the desert, the cross both convicts and it heals. It convicts us of our sins. It convicts us of the reality of God’s love for us. And then it invites us to receive healing.
Father Randy: The healing that we in the world so desperately need. That healing can only begin when we’re willing to listen to the scriptures as it says here. To believe. To follow him. Letting him save us from all the ways that we choose death. Looking up at the cross. Seeing the reality of our sins. The cost of selfishness. Of rejecting life. Be moved to repentance and sorrow. Going to confession. Confession.
Father Randy: so we can receive forgiveness and the grace to make the journey through the desert, loving as he loved us. So when we look at our lives and we look at the world and we see the effects of sin, especially right now, violence and division, the only answer that is going to be able to sustain us is found in the cross. Because it is on the cross that we see how God can use even the darkest moment.
Father Randy: the crucifixion of his own son to bring life, how he transforms the cross from a symbol of death to one of victory. And if he can do that with the cross, then he can do the same with me and he can do the same with us in our world. If we’re willing to choose life in him.