A popular hymn written by Isaac Watts a few centuries ago is a beautiful reminder of the place where it all begins for us Christians-the Cross of Christ.
Alas, and did my Savior bleed, And did my Sov'reign die?
Would He devote that sacred head
For such a worm as I?
At the cross, at the cross Where I first saw the light,
And the burden of my heart rolled away
It was there by faith I received my sight,
And now I am happy all the day!
Not only does the Cross bring us great joy but also compels and empowers us to exhibit the fruits of a changed life. I like what Recon wrote on her blog:
"We must go to the foot of the cross. We have to walk the road to Calvary as did our Lord. We look up and see His holy, bloody feet and having carried our cross there, with our shame, pain, guilt, sin, joy we lay it all down. We take our ALL to him and lay ourselves at his feet in sacrifice so that we can then go out to our world and lay our lives down for our friends and our enemies."
It was the depiction of the Cross in Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ that led me to give up my reticience and pre-conceptions regarding Catholicism and return to the Church. I suddenly saw my pride and willfulness in struggling against His Church for so many years, in light of the all-sufficient sacrifice He provided for me. During the terrible scourging on the way to Calvary I said, "Jesus you did this for me, I will do anything for you, even become Catholic!" In my heart of hearts I had begun to realize that Catholicism was true and the graphic depiction of His suffering for me convinced me I had to let it all go.
I have since found out that other converts and reverts to Catholicism were similarly affected by this sacred art, The Passion of the Christ.
I can't help but think that the lack of teaching of the value of redemptive suffering in some Protestant circles is related to their de-emphasis of the Passion of Christ.
ReplyDeleteThe more I think about Christ's sufferings, the more horrified I get at concepts such as the "health and wealth gospel".
Yes Nancy, there are some that believe that Christ died and suffered so we don't have to. They neglect all of scripture teachings about taking up one's cross, and actually ignoring most of Paul's teachings about identifying with Christ in his suffering and death.
ReplyDeleteCol 1;24
"Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church."
If Jesus suffered, far be it from me to "claim by faith" that I shouldn't endure pain, harship and ultimately death.
If you get a chance, you can read my personal conversion story which details how this twisted doctrine caused much pain and heartache in my life before I returned to the Church.
Thanks for visitng my blog.
The Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary have been such a help to me in meditating on Christ's suffering. I have also appreciated the Stations of the Cross especially when recited in a very old ornate Catholic Church with large easy to see stations.
ReplyDeleteHey Prod!
ReplyDeleteI love the stations of the Cross, like you said, in a Church where they are plain to see and culpted realistically. The sorrowful mysteries are the best part of the rosary for me. I tend to pray them as my default .