St Paul's teaching on the Cross

At our holy hour last night, I was struck as I listened to the meditations by how well they communicated a three-fold catechesis of St Paul's teaching on the Cross in Christian life. We looked at St Paul teaching about the saving power of the Cross, about how the mystery of the Cross and Resurrection sheds light on the meaning of human suffering, and on the way in which St Paul teaches the Cross as central to his method of catechesis.

First meditation: the saving power of the cross

Philippians 2:6-11

Have this mind among yourselves, which was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Colossians 1:21-24

And you, who once were estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him, provided that you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which has been preached to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

We then listened to an anecdote from Testimony of Hope by Francis Xavier Nguyen van Thuan, pp.72-74. Here, Bishop Van Thuan (as he then was) describes how he was able to make a cross and chain during his imprisonment in Vietnam. After his release, he wore that cross and chain as his pectoral cross - not because they reminded him of prison, but because they reminded him that only Christian love could change the world, not weapons, not threats and not the media.

Second meditation: the redemptive mission of the cross in the life of the Christian - the redemptive meaning of suffering

Galatians 2: 19-20

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Colossians 1:24

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church.

2 Corinthians 4:8-11

We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For while we live we are always being given up to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh.

We then listened to some extracts from Pope John Paul II's Salvifici Doloris, discussing the redemptive meaning of suffering:

"Saint Paul speaks of such joy in the Letter to the Colossians: "I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake". A source of joy is found in the overcoming of the sense of the uselessness of suffering, a feeling that is sometimes very strongly rooted in human suffering. This feeling not only consumes the person interiorly, but seems to make him a burden to others. The person feels condemned to receive help and assistance from others, and at the same time seems useless to himself. The discovery of the salvific meaning of suffering in union with Christ transforms this depressing feeling. Faith in sharing in the suffering of Christ brings with it the interior certainty that the suffering person "completes what is lacking in Christ's afflictions"; the certainty that in the spiritual dimension of the work of Redemption he is serving, like Christ, the salvation of his brothers and sisters. Therefore he is carrying out an irreplaceable service. In the Body of Christ, which is ceaselessly born of the Cross of the Redeemer, it is precisely suffering permeated by the spirit of Christ's sacrifice that is the irreplaceable mediator and author of the good things which are indispensable for the world's salvation. It is suffering, more than anything else, which clears the way for the grace which transforms human souls. Suffering, more than anything else, makes present in the history of humanity the powers of the Redemption."

Third meditation: the cross in the evangelising mission of the Church

1 Corinthians 2:2-5

I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in much fear and trembling; and my speech and my message were not plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and power, that your faith might not rest on the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

1 Corinthians 1:18, 22-24

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God….. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

We then listened to part of Pope Paul VI's account of the content of the message of evangelisation in Evangelii Nuntiandi:

"Evangelisation will always contain, as the foundation, the centre and the apex of its whole dynamic power, this explicit declaration: in Jesus Christ who became man, died and rose again from the dead salvation is offered to every man as the gift of the grace and mercy of God himself.

And this is not an immediate salvation corresponding to the measure of man’s material or even spiritual needs. It is not a salvation confined within the limits of life on this earth … It is a transcendent, eschatological salvation which has its beginning certainly in this life but which achieves its consummation in eternity."

This meditation concluded with a reflection on the Sign of the Cross as an action in which we both evangelise ourselves by reminding ourselves of core features of authentic catechesis (it should always be Christocentric and Trinitarian) and evangelise others:

The Sign of the Cross
- physical shape that represents the very core of the message of salvation
- directs us towards the saving work of Jesus Christ
- the words we say as we make the sign of the Cross remind us of the doctrine of the Trinity, which should be present in all catechesis

As we pray the sign of the Cross:

- it is a moment of witness to ourselves of our faith in Christ, through whom we come to know the Father and the Spirit
- it is a witness to others of our faith in Christ, revealing to them the Trinity