INDEED, it is
Christ’s cross that does the trick. Our own
salvation, our capacity to open heaven’s gate has to pass
through the
cross of Christ, and not just any cross. Christ’s cross
is the key.
It’s in
Christ’s cross that all our sins are borne by
Christ himself and forgiven. It’s where our death leads
to our life
everlasting. It’s where we can truly say we are united
with Christ.
We need to
carry that cross, as Christ himself said.
"Whosoever will come after Me, let him deny himself,
and take up his
cross, and follow Me.” (Mk 8,34) We need to do everything
to fulfill
this indication of Christ everyday.
Any suffering
we have in this life, be it physical, moral
or whatever, can be considered as the cross of Christ as
long as we
unite that suffering to Christ’s redemptive suffering and
death on the
cross. That’s simply because Christ has made as his own
all the
suffering we can have.
We can make use
of some human devices so that we can be
reminded of this wonderful truth of our faith. One such
device can be
the practice of carrying a little crucifix in our wallet,
and taking
it up from time to time to kiss it.
This can be
done especially just before going to bed so
that we can associate the ending of our day with this
sublime
sacrifice of Christ which we should try to reflect in our
life. We
should try to end our day the way Christ ended his life
here on earth.
We can also do
it upon waking up in the morning to signify
our intention to carry the cross the whole day. It should
mean that we
are willing to suffer the way Christ suffered. We should
be willing to
take on any offense the way Christ accepted all the
offenses and sins
of men by accepting his death on the cross.
We should try
not to over-react to any suffering that can
come our way. As long as we unite with the suffering of
Christ, we can
manage to echo what St. Paul once said:
“We are
afflicted in every way, but not constrained;
perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not
abandoned;
struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in
the body the
dying of Jesus, so that life of Jesus may also be
manifested in our
body.” (2 Cor 4,8-10)
These words
were spoken by St. Paul in the context of
showing how our weakness and suffering—the fragile clay
jars that we
are, as St. Paul describes us--can actually show God’s
power working
in us. In the same letter, St. Paul precisely said that
it’s when we
are weak that we are strong. (cfr 12,10)
It’s important
that our attitude and reactions to
suffering of whatever kind conform to this reasoning of
faith
expressed by St. Paul. It’s a reasoning that perfectly
captures the
reason behind Christ’s willing acceptance of his
suffering and death.
It is this kind
of suffering, this kind of cross that led
to Christ’s resurrection, and that will lead to our
resurrection too.
This is the kind of cross that opens the gates of heaven
for us!
