His Cross And Victory

In the last analysis, what man seeks is victory in a variety of forms. He seeks victory over disease, ignorance, and a host of other enemies. For a Christian, all other victories are hollow, unless they lead to reigning victoriously with Christ in heaven.

It is strange that the most definitive triumph in man's history should have appeared to those who witnessed it as an utter defeat. Almost everything on Calvary seemed to spell failure for him who had been put to death so ignominiously. The tortured body of Christ was hanging limply from the cross, his head bowed in death. His enemies were taking a last, satisfied look at his lifeless figure, and were congratulating each other on what appeared to be their complete victory. His Apostles, acting like a small band of defeatists, were hiding behind the barred doors of the Cenacle.

The apparent defeat of Jesus looked so final that it kept the dis­ciples plunged in gloom into the third day. Even the first reports of the empty tomb did not help to lift the pall which enshrouded them. After the reception of that news, two of the disciples did not think it worthwhile to remain in Jerusalem to await possibly hope­ful developments. They started to walk to Emmaus, a village about eight miles from Jerusalem. Their depression was so obvious that, when the risen Christ joined them under the guise of a stranger who happened to be going the same way, he asked them what made them so sad.

Failing to recognize the Savior, they expressed surprise that he should be unaware of the great events which had so stirred Jerusalem during the past few days. They then explained that their melancholy was due to the Crucifixion of Jesus, "who was a prophet," they said, "mighty in deed and word before God and all the people" (Luke 24:19). Finally, they laid bare their total sense of defeat by blurting out in desperation: "We had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel" (Luke 24:21). Their whole tone and bearing indicated that they were convinced that the Crucifixion had dashed this hope cruelly and completely.

Christ, still concealing his identity, chided them for their failure to understand what the Scriptures had foretold of his Passion. He took them back through the Old Testament, pointing out the numerous prophecies concerning the great sufferings of the long ­awaited Messiah. When he had finished, he challenged their atti­tude toward the cross with the question: "Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?" (Luke 24:26) .

In speechless wonder, they finally recognized him "in the breaking of the bread." And when he had disappeared, they spoke of how their hearts had burned within them as he had interpreted the prophecies regarding his Passion. Never have two men risen so suddenly from dejection to exultation. They now saw that what they had considered cause for discouragement was really cause for elation. The cross, they now understood with divine clarity, instead of being a defeat was the greatest victory..

The transformation of the Apostles from timid, fearful men into men of absolute confidence was completed with the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. Once they had received the Spirit, they left the Cenacle with the air of men who could not have been more convinced that victory was on their side. St. Peter, preaching in the name of all, disclosed the source of their confidence by recounting the events of Good Friday.

Naturally, St. Peter spoke of the Resurrection of Christ, but he emphasized that Christ's rising from the dead was a victorious result of his having given himself over to the death of the cross. "Therefore," he told his thousands of listeners, "let all the house of Israel know most assuredly that God has made both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified." The first Vicar of Christ was losing no time in raising the cross as the victorious standard of the Church.

Jesus had told the Apostles that when the Holy Spirit came, he would recall to their minds everything that he himself had said to them. Now the Spirit made them understand why, during his pub­lic ministry, our Lord had made so many references to his Crucifixion and death. Now they saw why he had spoken of his death as a baptism, and why he had said that he was distressed until this baptism should be accomplished. Now it was clear to them that he had been awaiting his Crucifixion as an athlete who is con­fident of winning eagerly awaits the contest which will be the occasion of his triumph.

They also understood that strange conversation which Christ had held with Moses and Elijah during his Transfiguration, the one occasion before his Passion when he had allowed his divinity to shine resplendently. These two great figures of the Old Testament had talked with Jesus about his approaching death, a seemingly somber subject to discuss in such a triumphant setting. Now it was evident that nothing could have been more appropriate, for his death was not only to be a triumph, but a triumph of stupendous proportions.

The dimensions of the victory which Christ won through his cross are seen when we consider that the cross sundered, the Godhack­les with which sin had fettered mankind. The cross closed the gates of hell, and swung open the gates of heaven, for all who will to share in Christ's victory by accepting the redemption which he holds out to them. The cross caused the human nature which Christ had assumed to be raised to the right hand of the throne of God.

Victory is defined as the overcoming of an enemy, or of any dif­ficulty. Victory follows combat. The victory of Christ can be shared only if men war against any disbelief or ignorance in their minds, and any moral evil in their wills. The arms that must be used to achieve victory in the battle of life are revealed with stark simplic­ity by St. Paul when he says that the Church preaches "a crucified Christ ... the power of God and the wisdom of God." The impli­cation in these words is that men will win in the warfare of earth­ly life if the wisdom which Christ taught from the cross saturates their minds, and if the power which he won through his cross invigorates their wills.

St. Paul was concerned "lest the cross of Christ be made void," if he were so foolish as to teach "with the wisdom of words." He is speaking here ironically of human wisdom when it is unguided by the wisdom of the cross. He became so convinced of the tow­ering futility of any so-called wisdom that contradicted or obscured the wisdom of the cross that he wrote with impressive finality that "I determined not to know anything among you, except Jesus Christ and Him Crucified." The great Apostle could not have made it clearer that man's mind will be victorious over its darkness only if it is flooded with the light that streams from the cross.

The spiritual victory of the Church has always been propor­tionate to her application of the wisdom of the cross. Whenever her members have depended on worldly wisdom, they have failed

spiritually. When they have acted on the wisdom of the cross, they have marked up one victory after another. This is vividly illustrat­ed in the saints, who have chosen poverty rather than riches, humiliation rather than honor, self-denial rather than pleasure, death rather than a life characterized by betrayal of God and his truth. None but unbelievers would question the victory that the saints have achieved through their application of the wisdom of the cross. Their triumph is decisive and eternal.

So insistent is the Church on exalting the mystery of the Crucifixion of the Son of God that at times she specifies that not just the cross, but the crucifix, be presented to the view of the faithful. She commands that there be the crucifix, and not merely the plain cross, over the altar during the reenactment of the mys­tery of the cross in the Mass. It is the crucifix, rather than-the bare cross, that she presses to the lips of the dying. It is the crucifix, and not just the cross, that she attaches to our rosaries. In this way, she shows that, in exalting the cross, what is being glorified is not so much the symbol as the reality. Even when it comes to the cruci­fix, the Church is concerned lest it be presented in such a way that the full meaning of it will be blunted. Thus, in the encyclical Mediator Dei, Pope Pius XII said that "one would be straying from the straight path ... were he to order the crucifix so designed that the divine Redeemer's body shows no trace of his cruel sufferings."

A columnist posed the question why Catholics, who make the sign of the cross at meals in their homes, omit it when dining pub­licly. The reason appears to be that most would regard crossing themselves publicly as flaunting their religion. If Catholics gener­ally were to take up the practice, it would be regarded ultimately as a matter of course. Surely it would be unfortunate if any Catholic were to fail to sign himself through shame. He would thus be placing himself apart from the Church, for she is ever alert to find new opportunities to exalt the cross.

One who thinks and feels with the Church is forever seeking means for glorifying the cross. It can be worn on one's lapel. It can be placed on our doorposts, as Jews place on theirs the mezuzah, the scroll containing the Books of Moses. It can be displayed in automobiles. It can be floodlighted on church steeples. It can be placed in wayside or garden shrines. These are some of the almost countless ways of giving expression to the sentiment of the Good Friday liturgy: "We adore thee, O Christ and we praise Thee, because by thy Holy Cross, Thou hast redeemed the world".

EPILOGUE:

There is always danger, when we consider intensively one mys­tery of the faith, that we will not keep it in context with the other mysteries of the Christian religion. If any member of the Church were to concentrate his gaze on the cross and Passion of our Lord, and hardly ever think of his triumphant rising from the dead, there would be a lack of balance in his very devotion to the sacred Passion.

We can be authentic members of the Mystical Body of Christ only if we "think with the Church." The mind and spirit of the Church are made clear in the liturgy. In the liturgy, the Church constantly associates t he sufferings and death of Christ with His Resurrection.

That some members of the Church do not keep the Passion and the Resurrection in context is evident from their attitude toward Lent and the Easter season. We cannot but rejoice that a multitude of Catholics enter wholeheartedly into the spirit of Lent, attend­ing Mass daily and performing acts of penance and charity. This is truly what the Church desires and urges us to do during Lent. She is, however, far from wanting us to make Good Friday the climax of this outpouring of devotion. The Easter liturgy, which begins with the EasterVigil on Holy Saturday night and continues for the eight weeks following Easter, is the true c1imax of the Lenten liturgy. It should not escape our attention that Eastertide, the season of joy and fulfillment, is longer than Lent, the season of sorrow and penance.

In the preface of the Mass of Easter, which is the preface that is said during the forty days until the solemnity of our Lord's Ascension, the Church links the death of Christ with his Resurrection. The preface reminds us that "He is the true Lamb who took away the sins of the world. By dying he destroyed our death; by rising he restored our life." In the Creed recited during Mass, we have no sooner finished saying that "he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered, died, and was buried," than we are pro­claiming that "on the third day he rose again."

If we do not keep our Lord's Resurrection in view, we are not going to keep the whole mystery of Christ in focus. St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians that they would be saved if they held fast to the Gospel, "as I preached it to you".   He then went on to summarize it, as he had preached it to them: "For I delivered to you first of all, what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day, according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and after that to the Eleven. Then he was seen by more than five hundred brethren at one time... And last of all ... he was seen by me." The Apostle could not have made it clearer that those to whom he had preached could not be saved unless they understood and accepted Christ as crucified, and as risen from the dead.

The Passion of Christ, without his Resurrection, would have availed us nothing. St. Paul makes this evident when he says: "And if Christ is not risen, vain is your faith." Nothing could show better than these words how important for our understanding of the faith, and our spiritual progress, is the association in our thinking of our Lord's death and resurrection.

All this is paramount for our growth in the virtue of hope, a virtue which, along with faith and love, is necessary for salvation. The foundation of our hope is expressed in the words of the Creed: "We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come." But our resurrection flows from that of our Lord, as St. Paul indicates when he says: "But as it is, Christ has risen from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep." He elaborates on this in writing to the Romans: "But if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, then he who raised Jesus Christ from the dead will also bring to life your mor­tal bodies because of his Spirit who dwells in you."

If our hope is not broad enough to encompass our rising from the dead at the Second Coming of Christ, it is a stunted hope, which means it is not hope at all. "If with this life only in view," says St. Paul, "we have had hope in Christ, we are of all men the most to be pitied." While we gratefully repeat through the year the words which the Church places on our lips on Good Friday: "We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee, because by thy holy cross thou hast redeemed the world",let us also remember the words of the Mass and Office of Easter:"This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it" (Ps. 118:24).

This attitude toward the Passion and Resurrection of our Lord is not only necessary for the proper development of the virtue of hope, it is also necessary if we are to grow in that joy which is one of the fruits of the presence of the Holy Spirit in our souls. We do not love the cross for its own sake. We embrace it because of the joy that follows our ready acceptance of it. In this we are only imi­tating our divine Master, "who for the joy set before him, endured the cross." The psalmist was inspired to sing: "They who sow in tears, shall reap in joy:' No matter how the thought is expressed, in these words of the psalmist, or as we express it, "Through the cross to the crown, let us bear in mind that Easter could not have been much closer to Good Friday, and that, if we share the cross with him, we will reign with him in eternal peace and glory.

Fr. Bertrand Weaver C.P.