Exaltation of the Holy Cross

JOHN 3:13-17
IF YOU WERE A SINCERE BUDDHIST, YOU WOULD SPEND YOUR LIFE TRYING TO GET RID OF ALL DESIRE, BECAUSE TO A BUDDHIST, DESIRE IS THE REASON FOR UNHAPPINESS. IF YOU WERE A MUSLIM, YOU WOULD EXPLAIN THE BAD PARTS OF LIFE BY REFERRING TO FATE, THE ABSOLUTE, UNFETTERED WILL OF GOD THAT NO ONE CAN DO ANYTHING ABOUT. MOHAMMED HIMSELF SAID THAT IF GOD WANTED TO SEND A NEWBORN BABY TO HELL, WE HAD NO REASON TO QUESTION HIS ACTION. IF YOU WERE A HINDU, YOU WOULD SAY THAT UNHAPPINESS IS ONLY A DREAM, AND EVENTUALLY THE SOUL THAT IS IN ALL LIVING BEINGS WILL WAKE UP TO PERFECT BLISS. AND IF YOU WERE JEWISH, UNHAPPINESS IS PART OF LIFE, AND WE CAN ONLY HOPE FOR THE TIME IN THE FUTURE WHEN ALL WRONGS WILL BE RIGHTED AND THE WORDS OF THE PROPHETS WILL BE FULFILLED.
THE RELIGIONS OF MAN ALL ATTEMPT TO ANSWER THAT FUNDAMENTAL QUESTION – WHY ARE WE UNHAPPY, AND WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT IT? AND IT ISN'T JUST RELIGIONS THAT TRY TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION; SECULAR SOCIETY THINKS IT HAS ANSWERS AS WELL. IF YOU ARE UNHAPPY, IT IS BECAUSE YOU DON'T HAVE STUFF, AND IF YOU GO GET STUFF, YOU WILL BE HAPPY. IF YOU ARE UNHAPPY, IT MAY BE A PROBLEM WITH YOUR BRAIN'S CHEMISTRY, AND THERE ARE PILLS TO FIX THAT. IF YOU ARE UNHAPPY AND SOMEONE ELSE IS HAPPY, YOU WILL BE HAPPIER IF HE OR SHE IS MADE TO BE UNHAPPY.
THERE ARE CHRISTIANS AND CHRISTIAN SECTS THAT BELIEVE HAPPINESS LIES IN KNOWING THAT YOU ARE SAVED, OR BEING BAPTIZED IN THE HOLY SPIRIT, OR DEVELOPING A RELATIONSHIP WITH A JESUS WHO DOESN'T JUDGE, WHO IS ALL WARM AND FUZZY AND JUST DYING TO DO WHATEVER WE ASK HIM TO. AND OF COURSE, ALL OF US CHRISTIANS BELIEVE THAT REAL HAPPINESS LIES IN THE NEXT LIFE, AND SOME OF US EVEN FEEL THAT THIS LIFE SHOULD BE A VEIL OF TEARS.
BUT TODAY WE HONOR THE HOLY CROSS. WE REMEMBER JESUS BEING JUDGED, STRIPPED OF HIS CLOTHING, MOCKED, BEATEN, AND MADE TO CARRY THAT CROSS THROUGH THE STREETS OF JERUSALEM. WE REMEMBER THE NAILS THAT FIXED HIM TO IT, WE REMEMBER HIM HANGING FOR THREE HOURS, NEVER BEING ABLE TO TAKE A DEEP BREATH, AND GRADUALLY SUFFOCATING. WE HEAR HIM CRY OUT, “MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME.” AND WE SEE HIS BODY, FINALLY, TAKEN DOWN AND PUT IN THE ARMS OF HIS WEEPING MOTHER.
AND WE MIGHT ASK, WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH HAPPINESS? WHY DO WE HONOR THE CROSS, THAT INSTRUMENT OF DEATH, OF TORTURE? WHY IS THE CROSS DISPLAYED IN OUR HOMES, IN OUR CHURCH, USUALLY, AMONG US CATHOLICS, WITH A REPRESENTATION OF JESUS' BODY ON IT?
HOW DOES CHRISTIANITY ANSWER THE QUESTION, WHY ARE WE UNHAPPY, AND WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT IT?
I THINK WE HAVE A UNIQUE ANSWER, ONE NOT SHARED BY ANY OTHER RELIGION, OR BY SECULAR SOCIETY. WE SAY THAT TRUE HAPPINESS CAN ONLY HAPPEN WHEN WE EMBRACE THE CROSS. WHY IS THAT? BECAUSE IN EMBRACING THE CROSS, WE BECOME CAUGHT UP IN THE REALITY THAT JESUS EXPERIENCED, AND WE HAVE TO DO THAT IF WE ARE TO JOIN HIM IN HIS RESURRECTION; SO THE KNOWLEDGE THAT WE ARE HEADED FOR RESURRECTION IN JESUS CAN MAKE EVEN THE MOST TERRIBLE OF HUMAN CIRCUMSTANCES NOT ONLY BEARABLE, BUT A SOURCE OF JOY. ONE PHILOSOPHER SAID THAT A SOUL IN PURGATORY WAS HAPPIER THAN ANY PERSON STILL ALIVE, BECAUSE HE KNEW HIS DESTINY IN HEAVEN WAS ASSURED.
ST. PAUL KNEW THIS. ALL THROUGH HIS EPISTLES HE REFERS TO THE JOY HE RECEIVES FROM HIS SUFFERING; THE GLORY THAT COMES OUT OF HIS HUMAN WEAKNESS; HOW HE HAS GOTTEN TO THE POINT WHERE IT DOESN'T REALLY MATTER TO HIM WHETHER HE LIVES OR DIES, BECAUSE HIS DEEPEST LONGING IS TO BE WITH JESUS.
BUT WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO EMBRACE THE CROSS? WELL, THERE ISN'T ANYONE IN THIS CONGREGATION WHO IS NOT SUFFERING IN SOME WAY RIGHT NOW. YOU MAY BE COMING DOWN WITH A COLD; YOU MAY HAVE ARTHRITIS. YOU MAY BE GETTING OLD AND LOSING PARTS OF YOURSELF. YOU MAY BE YOUNG AND BORED BY HAVING TO COME TO CHURCH WHEN YOU COULD BE DOING SOMETHING A LOT MORE FUN. YOU MAY HAVE HAD A QUARREL WITH YOUR SPOUSE AND YOU ARE FEELING BADLY BECAUSE YOU STILL HAVEN'T GOTTEN BACK TO YOUR NORMAL RELATIONSHIP.
BUT WE CAN SUFFER ALONE, OR WE CAN UNITE THAT SUFFERING TO THE SUFFERING OF JESUS; WHEN WE REALIZE THAT ALL OF THESE LITTLE CROSSES ARE BRIDGES TO JESUS' CROSS, AND THEREFORE TO HIS RESURRECTION, THEY CAN LEAD US TO JOY; WHEN WE OFFER ALL THESE LITTLE BITS OF SUFFERING SO THAT THE BODY OF CHRIST WILL SUFFER LESS, THERE CAN BE JOY IN THAT. AND SOME OF US ARE CALLED TO GREATER CROSSES THAN OTHERS, AND ALL OF US WILL BE ASKED SOMETIME IN OUR LIVES TO EMBRACE A GREAT CROSS, AND AS FRIGHTENING AS THAT SEEMS TO BE, THE GRACE WILL BE THERE TO UNITE THAT CROSS TO THE CROSS OF JESUS, AND GOD WILLING, WE WILL FIND OURSELVES RUSHING TOWARDS CALVARY SO THAT OUR SUFFERING WILL BE WITH HIM, AND OUR RESURRECTION AS WELL.
GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD THAT HE GAVE US HIS ONLY SON. JESUS LOVES US SO MUCH THAT HE GIVES HIMSELF UP FOR US. BY BECOMING ONE OF US, JESUS MADE IT POSSIBLE FOR EACH OF US TO TURN ALL OUR SUFFERING INTO JOY, NOT IN SOME FUTURE TIME, NOT BY DESTROYING PART OF WHAT MAKES US HUMAN, NOT BY BLINDLY ACCEPTING A FATE OVER WHICH WE HAVE NO CONTROL IN THE HOPES THAT AN ARBITRARY GOD MIGHT CHOOSE TO LET US JOIN HIM IN PARADISE – HE MADE IT POSSIBLE TO FIND JOY WITHIN OUR VERY SUFFERING, BECAUSE HE SUFFERS IN US, AND WHEN WE REALIZE THAT, THERE CAN BE ONLY JOY.
I HAVE THE PRIVILEGE OF TAKING CARE OF PEOPLE WHO ARE DYING. ONCE IN A WHILE, I SEE WHAT I HAVE BEEN TALKING ABOUT; AS DEATH GETS CLOSER, AS SUFFERING INCREASES, SOMETIMES A PARADOXICAL JOY IS THERE AS WELL.
SO TODAY LET US PRAY TO GOD THAT WE WILL LEARN TO EMBRACE THE CROSS, THE SIGN THAT THERE CAN BE HAPPINESS IN SUFFERING, AND LIFE CAN BE FOUND IN DEATH, BECAUSE WHERE THE CROSS IS, THERE JESUS IS, AND WHERE JESUS IS, THERE IS RESURRECTION.