The Life-Giving Cross!

Thursday, Feb 15, 2024

Dt 30:15-20; Lk 9:22-25

In today’s Gospel, Jesus talks about the life-giving power of the daily cross.  

A disciple asked his master, who was carrying heavy luggage on his back, ‘What is the most joyful thing to do?’ The master dropped the heavy luggage on the moment, gave a sigh of relief, and told the disciple, ‘The happiest thing to do is to drop what one has been carrying.’ Now the disciple asked again, ‘What do you do when you are happy?’ Now the master started carrying the luggage again and walked his way. 

The word ‘daily’ is crucial to our understanding of what Jesus says about carrying the cross. 

The Christian life is not without problems or difficulties. 

Jesus means that every single day is a ‘day of the cross’ for a Christian. 

This truth can be understood from the life of Jesus himself. 

He left his heavenly abode to be born a child. He left his house to proclaim the Kingdom of God. He wandered through villages and towns, patiently enduring insult, rejection, misunderstanding, and hatred. 

Every day of Jesus’ life, he was gradually moving toward Jerusalem to embrace the cross. 

Jesus was carrying the cross in his mind and life before he did it physically in Jerusalem.

Jesus knew well that his personal loss was needed for the world to gain its redemption. 

Hence, Jesus’ cross gave us life, though it demanded his own as compensation. 

Therefore, carrying the daily cross need not be negative, but an invitation to explore the life-giving energy it contains. 

Jesus gave us life on his cross. He wants us to imitate him. 

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar