The Way of the Cross

We prepare for Holy Week by celebrating Jesus' triumphant ride

into Jerusalem.  This is just another paradox in the Christian

 liturgical year which reflects the continual rise and fall of

 the cruciform life.

And what is this cruciform life?  Simply described as a life 

lived in the shape of the Cross of Christ, it is not so simply

 lived.  The Cross itself is rooted in the earth, even as it 

points to heaven.  The arms of the Cross are stretched out to 

receive the precious arms of Jesus, even as they reach right 

around the world in a redeeming embrace.

To live a Cross-shaped life means that I acknowledge my temporal

 home of earth, because this is the land upon which I now walk 

with Christ.  But I do not forget my true citizenship, as Paul 

describes it, which is heaven.

I follow the Cross and open to the broken world, which may also 

break me. But I stretch out my arms, in imitation of Jesus, so 

that whether I am hurt or not, I stand in a posture of love.

And I look for the Day of His coming.  Holy Week brings me 

through all of the ways Jesus walked the Way of the Cross. 

Celebration, Eucharist, suffering, abandonment and death.

Let me not rush too quickly to Easter.  There is much to be

 learned about the love of Christ on the Way to and 

upon the Cross.