Friends, we are each on a journey of faith wanting to grow in holiness. In our hectic lives, we are always looking for a place to rest our souls. And what is that space that as Christians we are to be looking for? It is the very Cross of Christ. Each day we are to search for these opportunities to rest in the Cross of Christ—which means to love as God loves. For the very school of Christian life is the Via Crucis, the way of love. But since the time of Jesus, there have always been forces working to distract people away from sharing in the Cross of Christ, wanting them to believe there is a better way forward than the way of the Cross, which is the way of love. In the second reading today, St. Paul speaks passionately and emotionally about these threats: “For many, as I have often told you, and now tell you even in tears, conduct themselves as enemies of the cross of Christ.” These tears he sheds are for those who have chosen other paths, those of glory and materialism, knowing that they are only paths to self-destruction. He sobs for them. Yet, how blessed we are in every generation to have this Season of Lent, this period during which the Church helps us to live more intensely the mystery of the Cross. In the first centuries of the Church’s life, one rarely saw the Cross in art, for the people did not need to depict this horrible form of death, for they were still being crucified themselves for it. But after the persecutions of the Christians ended, believers began to depict the Cross, though not only as the instrument of Christ’s death but, more importantly, as his triumph over death. It speaks of the conquest of God’s love over all evil. But how are we to stop our lives and rest our souls in the mystery of the Cross? When we are not afraid to admit that we are sinners in need of redemption and divine love. For when we confess our sins, we claim Christ as our Savior and enter into the mystery of the Cross. When we confess our sins, we enter into the Via Crucis and the very mercy of God! It is then that we sob, though not in sadness like St. Paul, but in heavenly joy like the angels and the saints! Amigos, cada uno de nosotros estámo en un viaje de fe queriendo crecer en santidad. En nuestras vidas agitadas, siempre estamos buscando un lugar para descansar nuestras almas. ¿Y cuál es ese espacio, que, como cristianos debemos estar buscando? Es la misma Cruz de Cristo. Cada día debemos buscar estas oportunidades para descansar en la Cruz de Cristo, lo que significa amar como Dios ama. La escuela real de la vida cristiana es el Via Crucis, el camino del amor. Pero desde la época de Jesús, siempre ha habido fuerzas trabajando para distraer a las personas de compartir la Cruz de Cristo, queriendo que crean que hay un camino mejor para avanzar que el camino de la Cruz, que es el camino del amor. En la segunda lectura de hoy, San Pablo habla apasionada y emocionalmente sobre estas amenazas: "Para muchos, como les he dicho muchas veces y ahora les digo incluso con lágrimas, se conducen como enemigos de la cruz de Cristo". Estas lagrimas son para aquellos que han elegido otros caminos, los de la gloria y el materialismo, sabiendo que solo son caminos hacia la autodestrucción. Él solloza por ellos. Sin embargo, cuán bendecidos estamos en cada generación por tener este Tiempo de Cuaresma, un período durante el cual la Iglesia nos ayuda a vivir más intensamente el misterio de la Cruz. En los primeros siglos de la vida de la Iglesia, rara vez se veía a la Cruz en el arte, ya que la gente no necesitaba representar esta horrible forma de muerte, ya que todavía estaban siendo crucificados por ello. Pero después de que terminaron las persecuciones de los cristianos, los creyentes comenzaron a representar la Cruz, aunque no solo como el instrumento de la muerte de Cristo sino, lo que es más importante, como su triunfo sobre la muerte. Habla de la conquista del amor de Dios sobre todo mal. Pero, ¿cómo vamos a detener nuestras vidas y descansar nuestras almas en el misterio de la Cruz? Cuando no tenemos miedo de admitir que somos pecadores que necesitamos redención y amor divino. Porque cuando confesamos nuestros pecados, reclamamos a Cristo como nuestro Salvador y entramos en el misterio de la Cruz. ¡Cuando confesamos nuestros pecados, vivimos el Vía Crucis y obtenemos la misericordia de Dios! Es entonces cuando lloramos, aunque no con tristeza como San Pablo, sino, con un gozo celestial como los ángeles y los santos.
As the time of Lent draws near with Ash Wednesday on March 6, Catholics in the Paterson Diocese are once again invited to experience God’s healing love and forgiveness through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Catholic Churches in Morris, Sussex and Passaic counties will have their doors open for Confession every Monday night, from March 11 to April 8, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. as part of the Welcome Home to Healing program.
The Christian philosopher Blaise Paschal had written: “I have often said that the sole cause of man’s unhappiness is that he does not know how to stay quiet in his room”...