12pm Mass (Version #2)
10am Mass (Version #1 - Anthony's mom & sister were present.)
Carrying
Your Cross (& the Family)
“Take Up
Your Cross and Follow Me”
August 31,
2014
I
knew a graduate of St. Pat’s High School named Anthony. At 23 years of age, he was diagnosed with an
advanced stage of leukemia. I visited him
in the hospital and, as a way to encourage him to get better, I asked him to
join me on some projects I was working on.
He agreed to join me. But I told
him he needed to get better. His mother
sent regular group text messages with updates that I received over the next few
months. Eventually, in one of those text
updates, Anthony’s mom texted that his condition worsened. I called Anthony and told him to fight his
cancer. He said he would. And then I said, “Anthony, you are on your
Cross. You are like Jesus.” He replied in a weak voice, “Yeah, I know.” And it was the last time I spoke with him.
This
moment I had with Anthony dramatically illustrates an application of today’s
Gospel about the Cross. Sure, we may not
necessarily be in the exact illness situation.
However, each of us has a particular Cross that we carry. So let me start with this first question:
What Crosses do you carry?
The
second question to be asked here has to do with how we are to carry those Crosses. In the Divine Mercy writings of St.
Faustina’s Diary, St. Faustina wrote
about a vision Jesus gave to her. She
recounted:
Then
I saw the Lord Jesus nailed to the cross.
When He had hung on it for a while, I saw a multitude of souls crucified
like Him. Then I saw a second multitude of souls, and a third. The second
multitude were not nailed to [their] crosses, but were holding them firmly in
their hands. The third were neither nailed to [their] crosses nor holding them
firmly in their hands, but were dragging [their] crosses behind them and were
discontent.
Jesus
then said to St. Faustina, “Do you see these souls? Those who are like
Me in the pain and contempt they suffer will be like Me also in glory. And
those who resemble Me less in pain and contempt will also bear less resemblance
to Me in glory” (446).)
Brothers
and sisters, let us answer a second question:
How are we carrying our
crosses? Are we on our Crosses? Are we holding our Crosses with some
fear? Or are we dragging our Crosses. Whatever crosses we’re carrying, let us unite
them to Jesus on the cross. Let us say
to Him, “Lord, Jesus, I offer my cross in union with the infinite merits you
obtained for me, through your incarnation, suffering, death, and resurrection. Do with me and my cross whatever You will,
for your greater glory and for the salvation of souls.” By saying this with the purest love we can
muster, our crosses will have redemptive value and power.
In
today’s challenging Gospel, Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wishes to
come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” The Christian life has great demands. Yes, I admit, it’s easier said than
done. But the point is to not quit. Rest, but don’t quit. And get up after falling.
That’s
why we all need … help. And that’s why
God gave us the Church and the sacraments, especially the Holy Eucharist and
Confession, to help us on our pilgrimage here on earth.
This
is the third and final point of this homily.
In the Eucharist and Reconciliation or Confession, we receive the graces
we need from God to live our vocation.
God never gives us anything we can’t handle. He always gives us the graces we need to carry
it faithfully. The Second Vatican
Council reminds us that “The Eucharist is the source and summit of the
Christian life.” Jesus said to us, “I am
the Bread of Life. He who comes to me
will never hunger. He who believes in me
will never thirst.” He knew what we
would need to bear our crosses. He gives
us His Body and Blood as our daily bread to be our nourishment, our strength to
face the difficulties of our lives.
In
the Sacrament of Confession or Reconciliation, He gives us the opportunity to
start anew, to wash away all of our sins, both grave and small.
Another
way in which we are helped to carry our cross is in the family, in our very own
domestic church. It is in our families
that we most experience the ups and downs of life. It is here where Crosses are experienced AND
where one can give and receive assistance to carry each other’s Crosses.
You
know, when one is in the middle of pain, one can only think of oneself. But when that same person focuses on others
outside oneself, and then transforms that hurt into something that produces
hope, the hurting person is brought outside himself and herself. This is what Jesus did. Even in his agony, he thought about you as he
carried His Cross.
Let
us meditate on how Jesus did not just carry His Cross, but He Himself was
assisted in carrying His own Cross. Thus,
the best way to receive help carrying our Crosses in life is when the family
comes to Sunday Mass together to first ask God for help. The family that prays together stays together. Sunday Mass (like at the Sign of Peace) is
excellent for a family that has a hard time praying at home. Praying the Rosary together is another way
for the family to find strength, comfort, and consolation.
In
a particular way, I turn to the men. In
society, there is a crisis of manhood.
Men, you have a vital role to play to alleviate society’s ills. Consider the words of St. Paul from the
Second Reading: “Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to
God…Do not conform yourselves to this age, but be transformed by the renewal of
your mind.” There is something deep down
in our psyche where we want to give ourselves to others in a radical way. Do so for our families: Be silent strength
for those suffering, like Simon of Cyrene.
There are two models here: First,
Jesus himself laid down his life for His Bride, the Church. He fought for her with His own blood. He is the model of men caring for their wives
and children. The second is St. Joseph,
the foster father of Jesus and patron saint of workers. For workers and the unemployed seeking
meaningful work, call on St. Joseph for help esp during the Cross of
unemployment or relationships with children.
I challenge the men here to put God at the center of their lives and to
be the rock on which your family is built.
I challenge the men and fathers (and father figures) to come to Sunday
Mass faithfully with their families.
The
family meal together is something to encourage families to restore, even if it
is done in gradual stages. The table of
the home is a gathering point. The table
is a forum where problems can be solved and relationships built. If family meals are not done at all, then
start off once a month or once a week.
There
is no doubt that we have our Crosses.
And we are called to carry our Crosses.
Let us look to our families – however imperfect – to help each other
carry our Crosses and follow Jesus together.
[If
time permits, put story of chopsticks in heaven and hell here.]
So
whether it’s my former student Anthony who taught us how to hang on the Cross
(Anthony’s mother?), or through families where we receive help to carry our
Cross, let us together live Our Lord’s words,
“Whoever wishes to come after me
must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.”
__________
Purificacion, Dennis (Aug. 31, 2014). "Carrying Your Cross (& the Family)" (Vallejo, CA: St. Catherine's Catholic Church) blogged at www.marysdeacon.blogspot.com on Aug. 31, 2014.
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