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Our Faith
-
 THE
TRIUMPH OF THE CROSS
- By
Fr. KJ Veeger, MSC
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What
happened at Golgotha, on the first Good Friday in history, was
intended by Jesus’ enemies to be His final defeat and
disappearance from the world forever. But precisely the
opposite was the case! The Cross on which He was lifted from
the earth, became right from the beginning the sign of God’s
Loving Presence in the world and His triumph over death and
evil. It did not become so over a long period of time and a
 fter
a process of development, but IMMEDIATELY.
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- It is
told that when Jesus was crucified, two criminals were
executed with Him, the one to His right, the other to His
left. We may see in them the representatives of a fallen
mankind. One mocked Him, saying sarcastically, “Are You not
the Messiah? Save yourself and us.” The other, however,
rebuked him, “Don’t you fear God? You received the same
sentence as He did. Ours, however, is only right, because
we are getting what we deserve for what we did. But He has
done nothing wrong.” Then he said to Jesus, “Remember me,
when You come as King.” And Jesus replied, “I promise you
that TODAY you will be in paradise with Me.”
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- His
belief in Jesus Christ became his salvation. Neither death,
nor evil will have any power over those who take the side of
Jesus in their life. The man we call “the good murderer”
experienced the triumph of Jesus’ Cross. The devil –
personified power of all evil in the world – initially had
been sure of his final victory over God. But then on the very
day of Jesus’ crucifixion, and only moments before His death,
he heard Jesus saying to the poor
-
- fellow
on His side, “…today you will be with Me in paradise.” He
understood that these words were spoken to the whole mankind,
and not to the good murderer only. It means that the final
victory is God’s and not his!
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-
Nothing
has been considered too much for God, who is Love, to make
this victory possible. The good murderer was very much aware,
that by himself alone and by his own human efforts, he never
would be able to make up for his sinful past, and offer God an
adequate restitution. Yet God requires that restitution. His
infinite Goodness, despised and offended as it is by the sins
of little, created human beings, must be expiated by mankind
in order that justice be done to God.
-
- What God
has done is beautifully expressed in one of the Prefaces of
the Eucharistic Prayer: “You came to our rescue by Your Power
as God, but You wanted us to be saved by one like us. Man
refused Your friendship, but man himself was to restore it
through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father, was at the same time the Son
of Mary, born in Bethlehem, descendant of David who was a
descendant of Abraham, and raised in Nazareth. By His dual
nature as true God and true man, Jesus Christ was able to
offer God that adequate restitution. It was not the intensity
or extent of Jesus’ suffering on the Cross, which made it
adequate. Even the slightest act of sacrifice would have made
it adequate as being of infinite value. For God Himself was
the Actor!
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Why then
death on the Cross? Why then did He make extreme humiliation,
torture and death on the Cross the instrument
of our redemption? Jesus has accepted the circumstances
of His human life and death in the way they come for all men.
Often unpredictable, suffering and death, persecution and
contempt, pain and tears! He knew from His profoundest
experience as Son of God from all eternity, that all the
sufferings of this life are not worthy to be compared with the
Glory that is to come. Jesus wants us to believe that! That’s
why He accepted voluntarily and peacefully His most gruesome
death.
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-
May the
Triumph of the Cross give us the strength and tranquility of
mind to accept all the trials of our life, saying with Saint
Paul, “I will boast only about the Cross of our Lord Jesus
Christ; for by means of His Cross, the world is dead to me,
and I am dead to the world” (Galatians 6:14).
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TELL US
LIKE IT IS!
- Has
something wonderful and unique happened in your life lately? Did
God answer your prayer in a very unexpected way? Did you, like
Isaiah, meet God’s whisper?
- Have
you felt His powerful hand working in your life recently?
-
Everyday, people are experiencing God’s mighty Word in their
lives and it is a pity that very few know about it. Do you have
a story to tell? Some Good News to share?
- E-mail
us (genesis@catholic.org)
or fax us (021-6627384), and tell us about it. That’s right! You
don’t have to be a great writer to do this. We can help you
write it – just tell us like it is!
- Don’t
forget to write the subject: “Let Me Tell You A Story”
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