From the Cross to the Resurrection
By Father Brendan Williams
This past May Ana Garcia came to the Rectory, in her usual upbeat spirit, to do preparatory work on the summer Tent Revival. With a beaming smile she said to me, “Father, today is my tenth anniversary.” I was immediately aware of the awesome miracle that took place ten years earlier that changed her life and opened my eyes to a deeper understanding of the mystery of the Cross.
It was in May 1991 that I was at St. Justin’s in Toms River for the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. After Mass we invited those who needed prayer to come forward. Ana, who was suffering from MS, happened to be there and came forward for prayer. For some time now the Lord had been inviting Ana to embrace her affliction and offer it at the Cross. That night she decided to accept this invitation and willingly walk the way of the Cross, in imitation of her Savior. The following morning she woke up and could not believe what she was experiencing: Her condition of MS has been completely healed.
When she called me later to relate the good news I was stunned. Never before had I been witness to or read of such an amazing healing. I had been in the healing ministry for about sixteen years. people from all walks of life had come to me for prayer for healing. In all cases people were asking to have their crosses removed. It never once occurred to me to invite them to embrace their crosses as part of the journey to healing. I would now take a long hard look at my ministry: I would revisit the mystery and wisdom of the Cross.
The lie that moved our First Parents to sin was: “You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil" (Gen 3:4 Emphasis added). It was the blinding power of pride that drove the Devil to rebel in the first place so that he could become a god, independent and power wielding. But his rebellion cost his eternal happiness. He would forever hate God and everything of God. Satan had his day however in the Garden of Eden.
In succumbing to disobedience, our First Parents lost original justice, Heaven was closed to them and their descendants. Cosmos was replaced by chaos—order by disorder. Enter death, suffering and evils of every description. Yet God had another plan in mind. He would send His Son who would restore by obedience what was lost by disobedience. St. Paul puts it this way: “For just as through the disobedience of one person the many were made sinners, so through the obedience of one the many will be made righteous” (Rom 5:19). The antidote to sin—the rebellious rejection of the authority of God in quest of godhead—would be for Christ the emptying of Himself of the Heavenly estate and the taking on the form of a slave (Phil 2:5-11).
The instrument of restoration that Jesus would choose was the Cross. He made this clear to His disciples time and time again: “Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again” (Mk 8:31). He likened the journey of the Cross to the process that takes place in nature: “Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” (Jn12:24-25). The Cross would now become the Tree of Life. The fruit of the tree in the Garden brought death: Death on the Cross would bring life eternal.
As Jesus went in to the Cross He led the way, in humble obedience, to the utter helplessness of the crucifixion. It is in this total obedience that Jesus stands out in stark contrast to sin. It is because of this humble obedience that God the Father would raise Jesus up in glory. The Letter to the Hebrews points out: “Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered; and when he was made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him,” (Heb 5:8-9). And again: “For this reason, when he came into the world, he said: "Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; holocausts and sin offerings you took no delight in. Then I said, 'As is written of me in the scroll, Behold, I come to do your will, O God'" (Heb 10:5-6).
As Jesus entered glory through the Cross, He opened the way for us to share that glory. In Baptism we die and rise with Him, as St. Paul proclaims: “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life” (Rom 6:3-4). Henceforth, the disciples of Jesus will walk the path of the Cross to glory.
St. Paul is undoubtedly a powerful witness to the Risen Christ. He relates how he tried to destroy the Church for he believed it to be an aberration. It was on one of his missions of destruction that he encountered the Risen Lord. When he was baptized his life was transformed. He was filled with the Holy Spirit and aglow with the presence of Christ. Yet he will always connect the reality of the Cross to Resurrection: “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal 2:19-20).
When he wrote to the Corinthians Paul would emphasize that his power came not from worldly wisdom or rhetorical savvy. These, he said, would deprive the cross of its power—that is its power to save (1Cor 1:17). Rather, the cross is now to be the standard by which all allegiance will be judged.
The cross will henceforth be at the heart of Paul’s preaching. On the surface this would seem strange. As an evangelist, he would literally be announcing “good news.” Yet to the culture of Paul’s time the cross was horrendously “bad news.”
It was the weak and the powerless, slaves and unruly criminals, who were crucified in the Roman Empire. The cross was the most savage instrument of torture and death conceived by man. Cicero called it “the most cruel and disgusting penalty.” Jews in Corinth, familiar with Deuteronomy (21:22-23), would have identified the crucified one as afflicted by God’s curse: “When someone is convicted of a crime punishable by death and is executed, and you hang him on a tree, his corpse must not remain all night upon the tree; you shall bury him that same day, for anyone hung on a tree is under God's curse” (Deut 21:22-23). Thus St. Paul would declare to another community: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us--for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"--in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith” Gal 3:13-14).
Little wonder then that the mystery of the Cross was so hard to digest. Today it is no different. When we encounter Jesus’ assertion, “whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me” (Mtt 10:38), we are stricken by its apparent harshness. Yet the discovery of the wisdom of the Cross has brought revolutionary breakthroughs.
What is this wisdom? It is the great paradox. If we want to live we must die. If we want to be free we must surrender our wills to Christ and become slaves for the Gospel. If we want to be empowered we must surrender control and embrace helplessness. If we want our burdens eased we must take His yoke upon or shoulders for He says: “my yoke is easy, and my burden is light" (Mtt 11:30). If we want resurrection and blessing we must embrace our cross. If we want to reach our fullest potential we must become as little children. The image of a child coming to a loving parent, with hands raised in helplessness and in trust, is one of the most powerful examples to me of the wisdom of the Cross. The image of the crucifix will be for Christians the everlasting symbol inviting us to recognize our helplessness and to come to God our Abba, Father, so as to enter the embrace of His infinite love.
Perhaps one of the greatest examples of the wisdom of the cross has ironically emerged in an association that has no Church affiliation—Alcoholics Anonymous. The Twelve Steps take their inspiration from the Cross. The first step is the embrace of helplessness. The dawn begins to break on the long night of addiction when the addict acknowledges his helplessness in overcoming his habit. The second step is to acknowledge a Higher Power who can lead him to sobriety.
For us the story of the two thieves crucified with Christ illustrates the power of the cross to bless or to curse—depending how we receive it. Both men had identical sentences. Both were equi-close to Christ. Yet one man was lost and the other found salvation. One man cursed his cross and was consumed by it. The other embraced his cross, looked upon the face of Jesus and heard the most wonderful words that could be spoken to any mortal: "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise" (Lk 23:43). What is abundantly clear is this: It is not what happens to us in life that matters, it is what we do with it that matters. In my ministry with people now I make this very clear. By and large people come to get rid of their crosses. I invite them to meditate on the scene at Calvary and follow the example of St. Dismas. Learning to bear the crosses of life, out of love for Jesus, is the certain way to peace and the shortest road to healing, as Ana Garcia discovered.
The Sisters of the Resurrection, who staff St. Veronica’s Parish, have embossed on their professional crosses: “From the Cross and Death to Resurrection and Glory.” May these words be embossed on each one of our hearts.
This article may be reprinted for personal use.