In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Listen to this quote: “As we travel to the furthest distance from the earth, I want to remind everyone on earth that the greatest mystery is love. Christ said ‘the greatest command is to love God with all that you are and the second command is to love your neighbor as yourself.’ So, know that we feel your love and we love you from the moon.”
Those words were spoken just two weeks go by Victor Glover, an astronaut aboard the Artemis II spacecraft that traveled to the other side of the moon for the first time in history. This astronaut quoted Christ in his message back to earth and when I heard his message, I felt like the sky over the entire world was being blessed by the Words of the One Who created it, but that actually happened centuries before man ever traveled into space.
The year was 351 A.D. and a miracle related to the Cross of Jesus Christ occurred in the skies over Jerusalem. Here is the story. The countryside around Jerusalem is made up of many hills and valleys. As people approach the City of Jerusalem, the first thing they notice is the Old City Wall that completely surrounds it. Built into these walls are eight huge gates that allow people to enter and exit every day for business, for worship, for shopping or for whatever reason they wish. Of these eight gates, seven are open and functioning to this day but one has remained sealed for centuries. That one gate is called the “Golden Gate.” The Golden Gate is the gate Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.
In the year 351 A.D., something never before seen occurred in the sky over that area. A massive cross appeared from the Mount of Olives to the Golden Gate, which is about two miles in distance. It is recorded that this occurred at a time when the City was busy and was visible to everyone who lived there. Think of what it must have been like to see a symbol like that in the sky over 1600 years ago! The miracle affected everyone. Christians were strengthened in their faith and many non-Christians began to see life differently because of that Cross.
Today is a Sunday dedicated to the Holy Cross. It serves as a reminder of the greatest sacrifice ever made by the Creator of the world for the world. So, today is an appropriate time to ask ourselves: What does the Christian Cross mean to you and me personally?” Listen to what Jesus said to His Disciples about this. “Then He said to them, ‘If anyone wants to follow Me, he must first take up the cross and then follow me.’” Many people are uncomfortable3 with these words. They are uncomfortable3 because they tell us that the world doesn’t revolve around us or our wants, which is a very different message than what society tells us.
Every day we are given some message in this world that reminds us that life3 is all about me, but then along comes Jesus Christ and He tells us something completely different—that we are not individually the center of the world. We may be collectively but not individually. We have to help each other. Be there for each other and build each other up. Nothing short of that matters. These words tell us that sacrificing our needs for the needs of others is one of the cornerstones of the Christian faith.
What He is saying to us is this. Pick up the cross that was placed on our shoulders and carry it forward. It is about doing God’s work in this world. It is about caring for God’s children in this world. It’s sacrificing by denying our wants for the wants of others. It’s sacrificing by denying our needs for the needs of those around us.
In other words, whoever cares for other people and puts their needs before his or her own, serves God and will inherit eternal life. To take up our cross and follow Christ means to follow His example in life the best we can by doing what He would do as a way of life and making our world just a little bit better every day. It means living our lives with our faith in the center that by taking up His Cross in this world, we are following Him on the only path that leads to the “Golden Gate of Heaven.”
So, on this Sunday of the Holy Cross, let us remember the Cross of Our Lord is calling us to look for ways to live out our faith every day in this world. So, ask yourself:
- What stands in your way of taking up your cross and following Him?
- What does your cross in life look like?
“Then Jesus said to them: ‘If anyone wants to follow Me, he must first deny himself and take up his cross” every day and then follow Me.’”
Amen.