We have had this cross of iron
accompanying us during our Lenten journey in our parish this year, a symbol of
how we have been accompanying Jesus during Lent as he makes his way to the
cross. The cross of iron is located on
the highest point on the pilgrimage route on the road to Santiago de
Compostela. Last April, when I walked to
the cross of iron with two other members of our pilgrimage group that had been
walking for almost 3 weeks, I knew in my heart that I was approaching holy
ground. That day we had some of the
worst weather of our pilgrimage route.
Our whole hike was filled with cold, wet weather, but that day in
particular it was raining and sleeting, and the fog was everywhere. I had the stone with me that I had gotten
from the backyard one of my parishioners in Yazoo City, a lady who had been
suffering a lot of physical ailments that had confined her to her home for many
years. I used to visit her each month in
her home to bring her communion. She
gave me that stone to take on my pilgrimage journey. I also had with me a plastic bag full of
prayers and intentions that many parishioners and prisoners had written down
for me to take. I also placed at the
cross of iron a rosary that the Ladies Auxiliary of the Knights of Columbus
from St Richard parish had made for me symbolizing the prayer of the Blessed
Virgin Mary that I felt with me on my journey.
One can see the cross of iron from a distance from many miles off – it
looked so tiny on that far away mountain.
Then, it gets lost in the midst of the mountainous terrain until you’re
right there. As I turned that corner and saw the cross of iron before me, tears
started streaming down my cheeks as I felt the presence of Jesus before me, as
I felt all the prayers and intentions that I was carrying in my heart for
myself and for many other people. After
I spent some time at the cross of iron praying and placing the objects I
brought with me at the cross, I went to a small shelter that was located there
to get out of the wet, chilly weather. There were three young men from New York
at that shelter who had been walking on the pilgrimage route. They were standing at the shelter watching
the other pilgrims place their rocks at the cross of iron; they were joking around
and telling off-color jokes. I was taken
aback, and almost said something to them, but refrained from doing so. As we
started walking again on the trail, one of these young men started walking with
me. He started telling me how he and his
friends decided to go on this pilgrimage after seeing the movie THE WAY with
Martin Sheen about it. He recounted how
he had grown up Catholic but had really lost his faith and had not gone to mass
in a very long time. He told me how he
was a divorced father, how he missed his kids so much. He told me that this journey he was making
was in penance for all the sins he had committed in his life, and thought about
how he needed to regain his faith. I
thought about the crosses that we all bear, crosses that sometimes seem
insurmountable and so difficult to bear.
While I was put off by this seemingly disrespectful attitude I saw in
this young man from New York at the cross of iron, at that holy ground, I began
to see the crosses that he was carrying, the things that were weighing him
down. I saw that in his own way, he was
finding God again on this pilgrimage, he was struggles with his crosses and all
that was weighing him down in life.
As we come to church today on Good Friday,
on the day that Jesus died, at the culmination of his journey to the cross, our
hearts are opened once again to the importance of Christ's passion to the
context of our faith as we try to grow in our understanding of the salvation that
we receive through his suffering, death, and resurrection. In the
passion narrative from John’s Gospel, we hear the details of how Jesus is abandoned
by many of his followers: how he is denied by Peter, victimized by those in
religious & political power, and tortured, tormented, and abused by the Roman
military. While we see the many facets
of betrayal and abandonment in today's Gospel, we have great witnesses of faith
as well, with the great testimony of the beloved disciple, the Virgin Mary, and
the women who remain with Jesus at the cross.
We venerate the cross of Jesus today as we
commemorate Good Friday. As his
followers, we unite our sufferings with the sufferings that he endured on his
way to the cross. In a few moments, we will venerate the cross of Jesus, the
cross of redemption and salvation. We
will place our stones at the cross and we will show a sign of veneration, love,
and respect for his cross. We will be on
holy ground in this holy place on Good Friday.
May the meaning of this moment truly penetrate our hearts and our
faith.
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