That Old Rugged Cross
Fr. Francis Di Spigno, OFM,
Pastor
“Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life." For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.” John 3:14-17
This weekend we are celebrating the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. Ever mindful of the passage from St. Paul’s Letter to the Philippians [2:7,] “Who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross,” Pope Francis said, “The cruelty of the Cross is not what is exalted, but the Love that God manifested to humanity by accepting death on the Cross: ‘Who, though in the form of God, emptied himself, taking the form of a slave. This is the glory of the Cross of Jesus!”
In the introduction to Pope Benedict XVI’s Encyclical Deus Caritas Est/God is Love, he wrote, “Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction."
As we lift up our eyes to the Cross of Christ, we witness that event and that love that truly sets us free as we gaze upon the new horizon that awaits us all.
Fr. John Frambes, OFM, lived his life gazing upon the cross and encountered the love that God manifested to us and he saw his new horizon. This past Wednesday, September 10th, was the first anniversary of his death. In his memory, a cross has been hung in the back lobby of St. Francis Church.
May we too experience the event, the person, the love of God, every time we look at the cross, so we too may know our certain and decisive direction to our new horizon.
Peace and All Good!
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