Today’s feast brings meaning not only to the recovery of the parts of the Cross but to its real essence as the main symbol God used in saving us. The Cross, representing the most scandalous, absurd, painful and difficult way to die, had become a symbol of love, life and salvation. A miracle (at least for the faithful of St. Alphonsus Parish in Magallanes Village, Makati City) happened when our parish church got burned. The fire gutted everything except for the wooden cross at the church entrance. The cross wasn’t spared by the fire but its main features were still visible. Many saw it as a miracle, another triumph of the cross against destruction. It was the triumph of the cross for the faith!
While the new church was being constructed, the cross was placed in the bahay kubo, our makeshift church. It served as our cross for all the Masses held there. Everyone going to Mass, recognizing what it had gone through, would pass by it, utter some prayers, kiss it, or hold it. It has become a source of strength for everyone, an inspiration for all the challenges and sufferings we encounter in life. The cross is a living testimony to the power of God!
When the new church was finished, it was placed on the side where people can have access to it. It was hard to decide where to put it, but where it is now seems to be the perfect place. People continue to visit it and others, in fact, had developed a devotion to it. Today, whenever I look at that cross, I remember the difficulties we had in the reconstruction of our church. Sometimes I ask myself how I was able to go through them. The cross gave me the answer. Sufferings, challenges and even death are not the ultimate destiny of life. We will all go through them and more. In the same way that the Lord Jesus defeated death on the cross, we, too, in faith and with the Lord, will also be victorious over all. The cross no longer represents defeat but triumph, not death but life, not hate but love, and not damnation but salvation!
Reflection Question:
What does the Cross of Christ mean to me?
Lord, we cannot bear our life’s crosses without You. With You, we know we will always be victorious.
St. Crescentian, pray for us.
