The Triumph of the Cross
September 13/14. 2008
Fr. George Smiga
Matthew 20:1-16 &
Philippians 1:20-24, 27
Today we celebrate the Feast of the Triumph of the Cross. There are two distinct ways in which we can view this triumph or this victory. One way refers to what Christ has done; the other refers to what we are called to do. We usually focus on the first way, on what Christ has done. This viewpoint is given beautiful expression in today’s gospel: “God so loved the world that he sent his only son, that those who believe in him may not perish, but may have eternal life.” When we focus on what Christ has done through the cross, we recognize that through his death and resurrection, Christ has opened the way for us to eternal life. That is a triumph indeed.
But there is another way of looking at the victory of the cross. We can focus not on what Christ has done, but on what we are called to do. This approach is expressed in today’s second reading. There Paul tells us that Christ was born in human likeness and humbled himself to accept death on a cross. By this action, Christ identifies himself with the weakness and the brokenness of humanity. He becomes a slave and thereby makes the cross a sign of all who are victims in our world. In this sense the cross represents all those who are broken by poverty, injustice, prejudice, sickness, or violence. By looking at the cross from this perspective, it becomes for us a call to action. It asks us to stand in solidarity with those who suffer.
This call of the cross to stand with those who suffer is given a powerful expression in a poem by Stoddard Kennedy, who describes and compares Christ’s death on Calvary with a visit that Christ makes to the modern city of Birmingham, England.
When Jesus came to Calvary, they nailed him to a tree.
They crowned him with a crown of thorns.
Red were his wounds and deep,
for those were crude and cruel days
and human flesh was cheap.
When Jesus came to Birmingham,
they only passed him by.
They would not hurt a hair of him.
They only let him die.
For men had grown more tender.
They would not give him pain.
They only just passed down the street
and left him in the rain.
And so it rained, the winter rain,
that drenched him through and through.
And when all the crowds had left the street,
without a soul to see,
then Jesus crouched against a wall
and sighed for Calvary.
The cross is a sign for us to stand in solidarity with those who suffer.
By humbling himself and taking up the cross, Jesus identifies the cross with all who are victims in our world. Every time we act with indifference towards those who struggle with poverty, injustice, or violence, we act with indifference to Christ. Every time we walk away from someone who suffers, we crucify Christ again.
And so the gospel today tells us that we cannot remain indifferent to those who suffer in our families, to those who suffer because of sickness or divorce or grief. The gospel tells us that we cannot look at those who lack adequate education or health care or employment and leave them in the rain. The gospel tells us that we cannot ignore the policies of our country. Because of our immense power, what we do either helps or hinders the progress of struggling countries throughout the world. Every time we ignore those who suffer, we ignore our crucified Lord.
And so we are called today to stand in solidarity with those who are victims. We called to stand in solidarity in the way that we think, in the way that we that we use our resources, in the way that we vote, in the way that we spend our time. Every time that we choose to stand with those who suffer, every time we move from paralysis to action, from blindness to vision, from indifference to love, we move this world one step closer to the kingdom of God. Every time that we stand with those who are victims, we realize, in the deepest sense, the triumph of the cross.
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