Acceptance of the Cross
Today, we see the Lord proclaiming his crucifixion for the last time before the Last Supper begins. He explains plainly that He came for this very hour. From today, we focus specifically on the role of the cross. At this stage, acceptance of the cross is not only an invitation to follow Jesus Christ, but it becomes a clear condition for discipleship, and the ultimate proof of whether we lead a spiritual life; If we do not accept the cross, we waste our time, and our life. There are two key elements of accepting the cross.
The first key element is praise and our thanksgiving for what He has done for us, for His Blessed Passion, for His Blessed Death, for the fact that He has taken on Himself all our weaknesses, mistakes, errors, offences and transgressions and with them conquered the power of the Evil one. In this way, we are invited to praise the Lord and to bless Him: in His Sacrifice, with Him and in Him we are united with the Father.
The second key element is equally important and must never be forgotten: We likewise need to be crucified with full acceptance from our side. If we do not, we will come to a dead end. If we cling to our life, we lose it. The only way of victory is to glorify God through a heart, which embraces crosses. Without losing your life for eternal life, there is no Christianity. We are to place ourselves “below”, onto the ground, in order to be fruitful. Humbling yourself is the way of becoming fruitful. In the spiritual battle, there is no hope in fighting directly the opponents on their own terms. On the contrary, in all the history of persecutions we learn fruitfulness of the martyrdom of Christians.
To help us to go “below”, to fall onto the ground and to die for ourselves day by day, let us recall the moment of our death. Especially, at that time we will think instantly how to survive, how to fix our wounds, how to take breath, how to have hearts perfectly repaired. However, at that time what God wants from us is that we commit ourselves into His hands, to fall and die to be united with Christ. Indeed, the moment of our death is a perfect example of an invitation to accept the cross Fr Stan