Reflections on Take up the Cross

 

The Dutch priest, theologian and psychologist,  Henri Nouwen  1932-1996 wrote a meditation on Taking up the Cross as he reflects that in life we all have pain to deal with:

“Your pain is deep, and it won’t just go away. It is also uniquely yours, because it is linked to some of your earliest life experiences.

Your call is to bring that pain home. As long as your wounded part remains foreign to your adult self, your pain will injure you as well as others. Yes, you have to incorporate your pain into your self and let it bear fruit in your heart and the hearts of others.

This is what Jesus means when he asks you to take up your cross. He encourages you to recognize and embrace your unique suffering and to trust that your way to salvation lies therein. Taking up your cross means, first of all, befriending your wounds and letting them reveal to you your own truth.

There is great pain and suffering in the world. But the pain hardest to bear is your own. Once you have taken up that cross, you will be able to see clearly the crosses that others have to bear, and you will be able to reveal to them their own ways to joy, peace, and freedom.

Definition of the Cross

…..the cross performs a function of synthesis and measurement.  In it Heaven and Earth are conjoined…in it time and space are intermingled.  The cross is the unbroken umbilical cord of the cosmos, linking it to the center from which it sprang.  Of all symbols the cross is the most universal and all-embracing.  It symbolizes intervention, mediation, the natural and permanent structure of the universe and communication between Heaven and Earth and Earth and Heaven.

 

-Champeaux,G.de and Dom Sterckx, S. (O.S.B.) Introduction au monde des symboles, Jean Chevalier and Alain Gheerbrant, Dictionary of Symbols

 

Prayer

O God of love,

We journey with your son,

ever closer to Jerusalem,

to his cross, his true destiny.

 

We hear his words

“Take up your cross and follow me,”

but we’re not sure what this may mean for us.

 

We hear his words,

“deny your self,”

and wonder which self it is;

the self we put on for others,

or the self centred self

that wants it all for ourselves?

 

Whichever it is,

it seems like Jesus

is asking for all of us

and we’re not sure we can do this.

 

God, we will need your Holy Spirit

to be able to do this.

God, we will need your grace and mercy

to be able to do this.

 

We remember that you empowered your disciples,

the early Christians,

and others who decided to follow you and

we know and trust that you will do this for us.

Amen.