Jesus Gives a Sign FROM the Cross

This is a little meditation from a Benedictine priest to a friend.

Used with permission from Dom Mark Tierny OSB

I want to share a little thought which came to me recently, and which I don’t think I have already mentioned to you. If I am wrong, please forgive me. We all know about THE SIGN OF THE CROSS, which we make hundreds of times, often without thinking its real meaning. But do we ever think of The Sign FROM the Cross?

During Our Lord’s three-hour agony on the Cross, He looked down on each one of us, and said in so many words: “I am doing all this for you. It will not be in vain. I have covered all your failings, all your sins, all your mistakes. Just have faith in the infinite Value of My Sufferings, which are for you.”

These words are more than just a Sign, they are a Signal. I even think he gave a nod of His Sacred Head at this moment, and saw each one of us separately. He had such a big Heart that He could contain us all within It at this one moment. Or to put it another way, His Love for us was without bounds, limitless. The Strength of God is greater than the weakness of His creatures. If we think we are strong, we are mistaken. If we think God is powerless, i.e. too weak, to deal with our problems and sins, then we are doubly wrong!

Jesus nodded His Sacred Head many times on the Cross. His nods were directed to us. He did not shake His head in despair or in annoyance. I believe that He even smiled at this moment! There was no self-pity on the Cross, only Love. God bless you and keep you safe.

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Father goes on to explain these thoughts a little more:

It is nothing more than a mediation on what Jesus thought and did, during those three long hours of agony. This was the pivotal point of His ultimate sacrifice. He saw the whole world spread before Him, all human kind, of every generation, good and bad, saint and sinner, black, white, brown and yellow. They were ALL His creatures, and He loved each and every one of them. And to each of them He said; I AM DOING THIS FOR YOU.

His eyes caught our eyes at that moment, for time does not count with God: “One day is as a thousand days with God, and a thousand days are as one day to Him”. On the Cross, Time stood still, though God did not stop being God. He embraced each of us at that moment. He loved each of us then, as He does now.

What Jesus yearned most from his creatures, as He lay dying on the cross, was LOVE. “WHAT I WANT IS LOVE, NOT SACRIFICE”. He left the sacrifice element to Himself. We were to give Him LOVE. That was why He died, through Love for us, sharing His Infinite, Divine Love with us, and inviting us to share our human Love with Him.

I always recommend that when we are praying the Stations of the Cross, we should kneel at the 12th Station: JESUS DIES ON THE CROSS. At this moment, we should look up at Jesus, and try to catch His look of love. Above all, we should try to get the message He is giving us at this final moment of His life on earth, when He was truly one of us, putting Himself in our place, saving us from ourselves and from the evil that attracts us. Never stop looking AT Jesus, never stop looking FOR Jesus, because He never stops looking FOR us and AT us.

God bless, Mark O.S.B.