The Cross of Christ Contains all the Love of God

This weekend we celebrate the Exaltation of the Cross. "We preach Christ crucified." (1 Cor 1:23). This is Jesus, on the cross. We preach the crucifix. Jesus and the cross. Jesus is king and his throne is the cross.

Going back to Pope Francis' words after the Stations of the Cross during World Youth Day, he asked the youth of the world a very important question: "What has the Cross left in each one of us?" Answer: It leaves for us the certainty of God's love for us. "A love so great that it enters into our sin and forgives it, enters into our suffering and gives us the strength to bear it. It is a love that enters into death to conquer it and to save us." 

"The Cross of Christ contains all the love of God; there we find his immeasurable mercy. This is a love in which we can place all our trust, in which we can believe."

When I look at the cross, I am not scandalized as the ancients were. Even some Christian faiths are afraid of looking at Jesus on the cross. Or the believe that it is a form of idolatry to make an image of God. But the crucifix is not an idol; In the Old Testament, God was invisible and so it would have been very wrong to try to carve an image of God. But when the Son of Man entered our world to live and die, God became breathing, touchable, human. He had arms to embrace children, hands to bless and then to be nailed to the cross. A mouth to preach the Good news of forgiveness and healing, a head to be crowned with thorns. And these were all visible and better to draw and sculpt these so that we never forget that Jesus walked this earth and died on the cross. 

The cross is a very dreadful thing. But the good news for us is that Jesus always comes with the cross. And Mary, too, his faithful mother, who stood beside the cross. We are never alone in our crosses. I want to attempt to match Christ's love on the cross by giving myself to him. One of the most powerful lines of Pope Francis was when he called us all to give our lives to Jesus because "He never disappoints anyone!" "Only  in Christ crucified and risen can we find salvation and redemption. With him, evil suffering, and death do not have the last word, because he gives us hope and life: he has transformed the Cross from being an instrument of hate, defeat, and death to being a sign of love, victory, triumph, and life."

Do not be afraid of looking upon Christ Crucified. It is a pattern of our life and preaching. "We preach Christ Crucified." Keep his image close to you, and learn to give yourself as he does. I will be a missionary of Christ Crucified to the world so that others may know the love and forgiveness God has for us.

EXTRA: 

From Lumen Fidei 16, cited in this part of Pope Francis' talk:

16. The clearest proof of the reliability of Christ’s love is to be found in his dying for our sake. If laying down one’s life for one’s friends is the greatest proof of love (cf. Jn 15:13), Jesus offered his own life for all, even for his enemies, to transform their hearts. This explains why the evangelists could see the hour of Christ’s crucifixion as the culmination of the gaze of faith; in that hour the depth and breadth of God’s love shone forth. It was then that Saint John offered his solemn testimony, as together with the Mother of Jesus he gazed upon the pierced one (cf. Jn19:37): "He who saw this has borne witness, so that you also may believe. His testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth" (Jn 19:35). In Dostoevsky’s The Idiot, Prince Myshkin sees a painting by Hans Holbein the Younger depicting Christ dead in the tomb and says: "Looking at that painting might cause one to lose his faith".[14] The painting is a gruesome portrayal of the destructive effects of death on Christ’s body. Yet it is precisely in contemplating Jesus’ death that faith grows stronger and receives a dazzling light; then it is revealed as faith in Christ’s steadfast love for us, a love capable of embracing death to bring us salvation. This love, which did not recoil before death in order to show its depth, is something I can believe in; Christ’s total self-gift overcomes every suspicion and enables me to entrust myself to him completely.

My Experience at World Youth Day

Our trip to Brazil was so wonderful and it's fun to look back on everything we did. We were blessed to stay with Cristo Jovem parish for the first few days of our trip. The people there welcomed us at the airport with hugs all around and seemed more excited than us if that was possible. Our group had been looking forward to the trip for about a year, and I realized this parish had been doing the same thing. In the time that we spent with them, we went hiking, shopping, zip lining, and cathedral hopping throughout Sao Paulo. Going into the trip, we thought the first part of our trip would consist of mission work, but instead we were served the entire time. When we had to leave them, I was able to see how God's love was working among us. We said our goodbyes and hugged each of the Cristo Jovem parishioners about five times each, and there were tears everywhere. They kept thanking us for everything we did for them, and we really didn't do anything worthy of the thanks they gave us. All we had done was spent time enjoying their company. They were the ones organizing all of the things we did, giving us gifts, and making sure we were safe as we traveled around Sao Paulo. As we said our goodbyes, I realized all of the thanks was due to God's love working in our group and the Cristo Jovem group. I'm so blessed to have met them and am grateful for the beautiful ways they touched my heart.
Upon leaving Sao Paulo, we made our way to Rio de Janeiro. This is where the trip got rough at times, but was more than worth it. Without the people of Cristo Jovem by our side, we had to figure out eating plans and find our way through the city on the bus system. We struggled a bit in the beginning, especially when we spent the majority of a morning lost on the busses without Fr. James. We were trying to find our way to the church we were supposed to go to for catechesis, and eventually we stumbled upon Candelária where English catechesis was being held. Since Candelária was relatively easy to find, we decided to go there for the remaining catechesis sessions. This brings me to my favorite part of the trip. We had catechesis and Mass with Cardinal Napier of South Africa who was such a warm and loving man. This Mass felt so special and I enjoyed it so much. It was at this point in the trip that I realized exactly how amazing the universality of the Church is. I saw two musicians that I had met before in Arkansas and Missouri, and there was a large group of priests and pilgrims from Nebraska. All of my family is from Nebraska, and if you know me, you know that I'm kind of obsessed with the place and get so excited when I hear anything about it. So here I am, in Rio de Janeiro, and of the millions of people participating in World Youth Day, I somehow run into people that I know from America and find a huge group of Nebraskans. It was beautiful how I saw God working through our trip as I enjoyed this Mass. God helped me to realize that everything that had gone wrong during our trip leading up to that moment was meant to happen exactly as it had so that I would be in that exact place at that exact moment. Everything just felt so perfect and I loved it. I felt such a deep communion with God during this Mass.
Next, I'll shift gears to the part of World Youth Day that was absolutely insane. We got so close to Pope Francis not once, but twice. As it turns out we were not the only ones that wanted to see him up close, (I know, shocking right?) so we stood both of those times for about three hours crammed like sardines with all the Catholics from absolutely everywhere. When the Pope is traveling in his popemobile and he's getting close, you know. Suddenly, you have even less personal space if that's even possible, cameras are up in the air, and people are going crazy. The first time he drove past us, he went by so quickly, but I was able to get a better look at him the second time we waited to see him. It was so cool to see his cute little face in front of me from the second row behind the barricade blocking him off from the crowd. After seeing him, it was so wonderful to hear all of the things he was saying to us. He spoke with such simplicity, and everything he said was so important. I especially enjoyed hearing about and seeing his deep love for Mary because I love her so much. He said that once Mary received Jesus, she didn't wait to share Him. Instead, she went in haste to help her cousin Elizabeth. He told us to do the same and spread Jesus without delay after receiving Him. All of Pope Francis' words were wonderful, and I still can't believe I was there to hear them in person.
World Youth Day was an unforgettable experience, and  I was blessed to see God working in my life in the time I spent there. I look forward to continuing to have a deeper communion with God now that I'm home. God has allowed me to experience so many wonderful things so far in my life and has brought the most wonderful people into it. I'm truly blessed.

Running the Race

     As time forms the exciting experiences of World Youth Day into fond memories, I can't  help longing to be back in Brazil again with my fellow pilgrims. However, myself and the other three million WYD attendees must not linger in our longings, but go and pass on our encounter with Christ and the Church to others.
     When I am asked about what I took away from the pilgrimage experience, I think back to the moment I first saw Pope Francis with my own eyes. For several hours I stood waiting near the barricades lining the avenue along Copacabana Beach; then later as the popemobile started its way up the street, I was pushed even closer in by the swelling crowds. I was a mere twenty feet away from our Holy Father when he passed by amidst camera flashes and chants of "Papa Francisco" and "Esta es la juventud del Papa". In that moment, I thought "this is what I've been planning and waiting for over the past year". I was surrounded by millions of Catholics from all parts of the world gathered in Rio for one thing: to encounter Christ through His Church entrusted to the successor of St. Peter, Pope Francis, and to all of us. I was so joyous to be there and to see the Pope, that I sprinted up the beach to get as close as possible to the altar to see and hear Papa Francisco address us for the first time.
     Each of us must continue to run towards the altar everyday, to where Christ brings Heaven and Earth together. We are on a race in which Heaven is our finish line, and we are to invite whomever we meet to run beside us. Pope Francis imparted many words of wisdom upon us but the ones that impacted me most are from the closing Mass: "Jesus is speaking to each one of us, saying: 'It was wonderful to take part in World Youth Day, to live the faith together with young people from the four corners of the earth, but now you must go, now you must pass on this experience to others.' Jesus is calling you to be a disciple with a mission!" So as I settle back into my community, I am aware that because I was given many blessings and graces during the pilgrimage, much is expected of me in order to help carry out Christ's mission! If each of the three million WYD attendees joins in this mission to be a disciple, we can change our parishes, our communities, and our world by inviting others to run the race with us!



Myself and Holly after our run towards the altar



Papa Francisco



at the closing Mass

Here is Pope Francis' homily from the closing Mass. http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/homilies/2013/documents/papa-francesco_20130728_celebrazione-xxviii-gmg_en.html