4.4 Response

STAGE 4: Towards the Likeness of Jesus Christ

JESUS AND THE CROSS

THE CAPTIVATING POWER

RESPONSE

Aim: To reflect on and respond to our cross as wisdom and power of God.

Reading

Therefore God exalted him (Phil 2:5-11): Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Comment

According to St. Paul, the turning point of the Passion of Jesus, i.e., his glorious resurrection, is not oppositional but consequential to his sufferings. A crucial term used to express this purpose and concept is the adverb “therefore”. It is like saying: Jesus is “highly exalted and God has given him the name above every name”, not because he has overcome death, but because he has lived through suffering in the most meaningful manner.

This is what makes the cross, according to Montfort, “the secret of the King and the greatest mystery of Eternal Wisdom”. Throughout his life, the cross has generated so much wisdom and power that he decided to keep it “central” for eternity. In this regard, after calling the attention of his readers, Montfort writes in LEW 172:

“Do not think that, wanting to be more triumphant, Incarnate Wisdom rejected the cross after his death. Far from it; he united himself so closely to it that neither angel nor man, nor any creature in heaven or on earth, could separate him from it. The bond between them is indissoluble and their union is eternal. Never the Cross without Jesus, or Jesus without the Cross!”

“Through his dying upon it, the Cross of ignominy became so glorious, its poverty and starkness so enriching, its sorrows so agreeable, its austerity so attractive, that it became as it were deified and an object to be adored by angels and by people. Jesus now requires that all his subjects adore it as they adore him. It is not his wish that the honour even of a relative adoration be given to any other creature however exalted, such as his most Blessed Mother. This special worship is due and given only to his dear Cross”.

“On the day of the last judgement he will bring to an end all veneration to the relics of the saints, even those most venerable, but not to those of his Cross. He will command the chief Seraphim and Cherubim to collect from every part of the world all the particles of the true Cross. By his loving omnipotence he will reunite them so well that the whole Cross will be re-formed, the very Cross on which he died. He will have his Cross borne in triumph by angels joyfully singing its praises. It will go before him, borne upon the most brilliant cloud that has ever been seen. With this Cross and by it, he will judge the world”.

Indeed, “Eternal Wisdom has fixed his abode in the Cross so firmly […] and has so truly incorporated and united himself with the Cross, that in all truth we can say: Wisdom is the Cross, and the Cross is Wisdom” (LEW 180).

Personal Reflection and Sharing

How is the cross helping me to “encounter Christ” and to respond more “wisely” to the challenges of life and the demands of my Baptism?

[4-4] CALL RESPONSE COMMITMENT PRAYER