The Triumph of the Cross

                                          

Deacon Tom writes ©

"The Triumph of the Cross"

Feast of the Exultation of the Cross, Year A

Syria, Iraq, Palestine, Somalia, and the Ukraine… are just a few of the places where violence rages on such an enormous scale. How are people who have seen and suffered such extreme suffering able to forgive those who have brought such pain and suffering into their lives?  How can man, women, and children whose memories are forever scarred by such violence able to put their lives back together and not follow the ancient paths of revenge and retaliation? Is it possible for such victims to forgive their oppressors in order to end the violence and not pass it on like a virus to future generations?  

The people of South Africa and Ireland seemed to have met with some success in ending the violence that destroys people and villages. In the case of South Africa ending apartheid, the legalized segregation of the population into black and white, was crucial in stopping the brutality. In the case of Ireland, years of economic domination gave way in the late 1980’s to a period of economic growth and stability that has been a significant factor helping build a bridge to a new error of peace and cooperation between former adversaries.

I don’t think we will ever understand the mystery of suffering, the suffering inherent in our humanity such as sickness and disease or the suffering that is the product of our human desires that causes and imposes suffering on others through war, poverty, physical / sexual / mental / substance abuse.  But I do think that we Christians have a unique way to view suffering, our own or the suffering of others… and that is through the prism of the Cross. If you look at Christ as the victim who represents all the victims who have ever suffered throughout time, before Him and after Him, then we can see in His death that there is no need for further victims. The message of the cross is this:  NO MORE VICTIMS.

This message has been slow to take root, but as fragile as that root may be, it is showing signs of life. For we could not experience the reconciliations that have happened in Ireland or in South Africa and in other places where former adversaries now live side by side, unless you have people living the message we hear today in our gospel, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son.” We are called to love others as God loves us. This is the only way we will have a future. If we are not able to get beyond the violence, the violence WILL consume us. For Christians, violence stops at the cross.

This is the real Triumph of the Cross: that we are learning how to forgive others as Jesus did. May God give us the courage, strength, and wisdom to be quick to forgive those who injure us.

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom