souldare

Early Christians knew without doubt all facets of the life of Christ stemmed from one reality…one central reality: the cross. Jesus was born to confront the cross; Jesus died on the cross to bring us to fullness of life; Jesus rose to defeat the cross; Jesus embodied what the role of the cross was to be in the life of us all. –Joan Chittister , The Liturgical Year

{This is a vintage blog from 2010, but I came across it while preparing for a time of contemplating the cross with some girlfriends. It was a timely word for today.}

Visions of families gathered around the table eating delicacies both savory and sweet. Piles of presents wrapped and placed under our Christmas trees so neat. And just for good measure we remember the babe in the manger, where farm animals are said to eat. Why would one want to leave this scene and to mention the cross? Because if we keep saying that Jesus is the greatest gift without the mention of this greatest affliction, we should count it great loss.


Every adventure has its dark moments, and it seems every year that I contemplate the advent of our Savior, the “little Lord Jesus, asleep on the hay,” that it is not long before the images of passion week come into my readings or my mind. And as I was reading about the liturgical year, the author reminded me that while on Christmas we will worship the newborn King, every other day after this is marching us straight to the cross. The pinnacle of our experience of Jesus as our Savior.


To think on these things may be sobering, but they also bring about a mysterious hope. The cross was the unavoidable affliction that Jesus faced for us, yet He triumphed over it. Our hope is found in His resurrection. The hope of this season—a new birth—leads us to the wonderful news that we have access to new life ourselves.


The quest to follow the liturgical year for me is not just a religious checklist, but a desire to know the life of Jesus more fully and a willingnessto take up the cross in order to follow Him wherever this life leads.


I want to leave you with a link to a very old poem that you may like to read and use in your contemplations of the Cross. The narrator of the poem has a vision of the cross, in which the cross is adorned with jewels. Further into his dream, the cross takes on a voice and from its perspective tells what the crucifixion was like. I like the creativity of this poem and how the cross knew that Jesus willingly took His place on the cross. I would love to hear your thoughts on this poem, if you have a moment. The link takes you to a translation of the poem, it was originally written in Old English. Here it is: The Dream of the Rood (Rood means cross).