Our Daily Crosses

[Note: The following is a reflection that was given on Monday night during St. Matthew's Parish Lenten Holy Hour.]

"Take up your cross daily and follow me." -(Luke 9:22-25)

Whenever I hear this Gospel that was just proclaimed, I think of a family I know well. The adult children care for their aging parents. When all is said and done, they might spend four or five hours each evening cooking, cleaning, and watching after their parents. All of this is on top of caring for their own families and careers. The siblings all admit that this is exhausting work at times, yet this is the task they have been called to do. And so, even though it is not always easy, they faithfully and lovingly attend to their parents' needs.

I also think of a young woman I know. At times, she suffers from anxiety and bouts of depression. Sometimes, life can be a challenge and burdensome. During these moments when the anxiety and depression are particularly strong, she struggles to maintain her faith. "I hate that I feel this way, but I can't help it. Why do I have to be the one with anxiety and depression?"

It is the Cross.

The Cross is an anomaly. It is counter-intuitive. St. Paul described the Cross as a scandal to Gentile and a stumbling-block to Jews. But the Cross - taking up our Cross daily - is what Jesus tells us tonight is the condition for our discipleship.

What does it mean for us to carry our Cross? In calling us to carry our Cross, Jesus asks of us to be aware of that which burdens us. We are to be in touch with the suffering we face in life, whether it is physical, emotional, or spiritual. We need not be ashamed or hide the Crosses in our life. It might seem counter-intuitive, but when we embrace our Cross and accept our humanity (and its limitations), we actually come closer to our God. Our Crosses remind us of our loving dependence on God!

The Crosses we carry daily, however, are only half the story. Our faith reminds us that in the Paschal Mystery, Christ Jesus carried his own Cross, bore the wounds of sin and suffering in the crucifixion, died, and was raised by the power of God's faithful love on the third day.  And just this past Sunday, we heard the Gospel account of the Transfiguration of the Lord. We were again reminded that Jesus' glorification can only be understood in light of his suffering on the Cross.

The Crosses we bear in life always lead us to encounter Jesus. And an encounter with Jesus always leads us to new life, a new direction, a new horizon. In dying to self and in taking up our Cross, we will experience new life in God.

"Jesus und Simon von Cyrene" by Sieger Köder

Now, we must clarify that God does not desire that we suffer God is not cruel or vengeful. God is not sadistic. Rather, God's love is so abundant, so overflowing, brimming over the surface, that it cannot be contained. God's love transforms all, even the darkest of nights and the heaviest of Crosses. We all carry our Crosses daily. No matter what form, shape, no matter how heavy, long-lasting or short-term, physical, emotional, or spiritual...we all have a Cross to carry!

But let us remember that Jesus has gone before us, that Jesus carried his own Cross. And now, during our Lenten journey, Jesus invites us to once again take up our Cross, to carry our own Cross, to embrace our Cross, to follow him. In doing so - in taking up our Cross daily to follow Jesus - we will soon find that Jesus actually walks alongside us. Jesus is there to help us bear the weight of our Cross, our life, our discipleship. Jesus is there to transform our Cross into something new, something transfigured, something salvific.