The cross it the way of salvation. It is both the means which Jesus embraced so as to bring salvation to the world as well as a symbol which indicates a way of life we should follow if we want to properly receive that salvation. This is because, thanks to what Jesus has done, the cross has become a symbol of self-sacrifice, but not just any kind of self-sacrifice, but the sacrifice people make for the people they love. We are to embrace what the symbol of the cross represents, to engage in radical self-giving love; to do that, we must deny ourselves of all selfish ambitions and desires. That is because the way of selfishness is opposite of the way of love, as selfishness leads us to attend only to ourselves, looking for and doing whatever we can for our own benefit alone; it has us justify what we do, no matter how unjust the action, with the notion that we are attending to and promoting the greatest good, which is the good we find in ourselves (which is why selfishness is a form of idolatry).
Christ, in his embrace of the cross, shows us his love for us by revealing that he is willing to do all he can for us. He is willing to die for us, and in that death, take on and assume our greatest burdens, the burdens of sin, upon himself. His great, infinite love, had him become one of us, join in solidarity with us, and then take on the burdens of the cross. He gives himself over to us, allowing us to do all we want to do to him, proving that his love is greater than our evil will.
Jesus calls us to follow after him and his example, to take up the way of the cross for ourselves. He would have us die to the self, that is, deny the selfishness which we have accepted, so that we can then give ourselves to others in a love which resembles his love. To be able to do that, we will find we will have to discipline ourselves, fighting against the inordinate desires and habits we have which would encourage us to be selfish. We must give up the kind of life which we make for ourselves based upon our selfish impulses, a life which will never satisfy us, if we want what Christ has to offer us, that is, the glory of the kingdom of God, which alone will give us what we need to be truly satisfied and at peace:
And he called to him the multitude with his disciples, and said to them, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man, to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? For what can a man give in return for his life? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of man also be ashamed, when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels “(Mk. 8:34-38 RSV).
We must not deny our own good, but we are not to artificially prop it up so that we end up denying the good of others, and with it, why they should have access to what they need. That is, we must not turn ourselves into idols which requires us to sacrifice the world around us. Only by denying the idol of the self, and so, denying our selfish desires, can we be set free and realize our true glory. The cross, the cross of Christ, demonstrates the only kind of sacrifice which is necessary, that is, the destruction of the false ego, and all the selfishness which comes from it, so that we can truly give of ourselves to others in and with love, just as Christ himself gave himself to us on the cross:
The cross of Christ is the power of love for Christ; without the cross there is no love for Him. And sacrifice is the power of love, and without the agony of the cross there is no Love. [1]
This is why we lift up the cross and venerate it; Jesus accepted the cross, knowing that it would become the tool which brings about our salvation. By it, he joined himself in solidarity with us, sinners who have created the conditions for our own suffering, so that through him, we will be able to transcend those conditions and find ourselves experiencing eternal beatitude:
The inner-reality of God as self-emptying and self-communicating love, which has become decisively and unsurpassably revealed in the cross, does not remain in itself, but it is bestowed on us concretely in the Holy Spirit. In his mercy, God lets us not only see into his heart; he creates space for us beside his heart and in his heart through the Holy Spirit. [2]
The cross, therefore, has a role in our salvation, not only by the way Christ used it to share with us the burdens of our sins, but also as a symbol, one which represents the way of love. This is why the cross should be looked upon with reverence and gratitude, making sure, of course, we understand the symbol properly, and with it, the implications it has for us in our lives. That is, we must embrace the way of love and the righteousness which is represented by the cross: “As we must live righteously all the time, so we must bear the cross all the time, for to all of us have been assigned our own crosses, and all of us carry them in our own way and in our own measure.” [3] Let us, therefore, look up upon the cross, and venerate it, not just through acts of piety, but by the way we let it and Christ work in us, transforming us so we can become like Christ himself.
[1] Sergius Bulgakov. Spiritual Diary.Trans. Mark Roosien and Roberto J. De La Noval (Brooklyn, NY: Angelico Press, 2022), 82 [11/24.X.1924].
[2] Walter Kasper, Mercy. Trans. William Madges (New York: Paulist Press, 2013), 94
[3] St Leo the Great, Sermons. Trans. Jane Patricia Freeland CSJB and Agnes Josephine Conway SSJ (Washington, DC: CUA Press, 1996), 202 [Sermon 47].
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