The Only Way Forward

During the homily at mass last Wednesday, the priest said something along the lines of “it is through the cross that we can move forward.”  This profound statement reminded me of a time that God revealed this truth to me.  Right at the beginning of my dad’s funeral mass, as my siblings and I stood alongside the casket, the funeral home director handed me a wooden cross to place on top of the casket.  At that moment, I knew that the cross was ultimately the reason we were there.  Because it is what led to the resurrection and the promise of eternal life.  As mass moved forward, it was a reminder that Jesus’ suffering and death on the cross is what allows us to get through each moment, but especially the ones that are the most difficult and challenging.  It is only because of the cross, that our lives and any suffering that comes with it, make sense.

Jesus invites each one of us to pick up our crosses and follow Him.  But how often do we let our fears, weaknesses, and pride stop us?  Maybe we are tempted to stay right where we are, or to try to run in the opposite direction.  We often try to look for a way out or to avoid anything that makes us uncomfortable.  But this will not lead us closer to Christ and move us forward.  The only way we can get through those discomforts and challenges is by focusing on Jesus and uniting our sufferings to His suffering on the cross.

The challenges and discomforts we may encounter on a regular basis, even the smallest occurrences that we may see as inconveniences, can be offered up to God.  He can bring good out of every moment and provide an abundance of grace.

As disciples of Christ, we are promised to experience rejection, pain, discomfort.  But, we are also promised that we will not walk through these experiences alone.  Any rejection, pain, discomfort, and suffering we face, Christ faces with us, because he experienced all of those things while on the cross.
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When we wake up each day, unsure of what the day and week ahead will bring, we can be assured that Jesus will carry us through it.  When we are uncomfortable or facing a challenge, may we remember that every one of these moments is an opportunity to deepen our faith and grow closer to Jesus.  Truly, it is only by the cross that we can move forward.