The Cross: Uniting Our Suffering with His

On Wednesday, we celebrated the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.  This has always been a favorite feast of mine, but as the day approached this year, I found myself looking at it with a different perspective.

The Exaltation of the Holy Cross obviously brings to mind, the Cross and the Crucifixion of Jesus.  We all know that Jesus is both human and divine, and I think that this feast highlights it as well.  Yes, Jesus died on the Cross and rose again on the third day - so that we would have eternal life.

However, there is also a real humanity to all of this.  The Cross shows us that Jesus suffered.  We, too, suffer.  We fall (both literally and figuratively) - we make mistakes, and we sin.  We struggle - with addictions, financially, at work, in school, in our relationship with God, and with much more.  We face hardships - we've lost family members, jobs, money, people and things we love.  We have to make sacrifices for the greater good of God and others.  We can unite our suffering with the suffering of Jesus on the Cross.  We can unite our suffering with the Crucifix; the Holy Cross.

Jesus suffered too - in both a human and divine way.  On one hand, we see the pain that Jesus endured.  He was ridiculed and was killed in front of His own mother.  His poor mother had to watch Him suffer and die - imagine the pain she felt.  But, in a human way, during his time of Earth, Jesus got sad in His human life and public ministry, and he also faced ridicule.  While he did not sin, there were things that were a struggle and made him sad in life.  There were difficulties that he had to face.  My favorite picture of Jesus is the "Hook's Head," (painted by Richard Hook) which is used in the ECHO Program.  His hair isn't perfect, his teeth are chipped, and his beard has a patch of gray.  If you look at this image from any angle, you will see that Jesus is always looking at you.  How true that is - Jesus is always looking at you, watching out for you, and holding your hand saying, "I'm right here with you; you can do it," when you suffer and fall...when you bear crosses, burdens, and hardships in life.

Sometimes, we take this for granted.  Whenever I get stressed out with an abundance of schoolwork or just too much going on in life, I try to unite my suffering with Jesus's on the Cross.  Is it easy?  No way!  It's something that we have to work at in our spiritual life.  Remember, Jesus walked in our shoes, too.

I close with a quote from Pope Francis from his Wednesday Audience this week.  I found it on Facebook Wednesday night in the middle of what has been a very, very busy week, and I knew it was the Holy Spirit at work.  "When we are tired or despondent, let us not be afraid, let us come to Christ, trust in him, rest in him and joyously serve him."

Remember, you are not alone.  Just look up on the Cross, and remember the ultimate sacrifice; the ultimate price paid.

Chris Hughes