The Transforming Power of the Cross

 

Deacon Dave · The Transforming Power of the Cross

Good Friday Homily: The Transforming Power of the Cross 

At the Last Supper on Holy Thursday night, Jesus gave us the great commandment of love. More specifically, He told us to live out this commandment by following His example and Good Friday shows us this example in a very powerful way. While nailed to the cross, Jesus forgave those who were in the act of killing Him. In the midst of struggling to breathe, He spoke words of mercy to the repentant thief crucified next to Him. While undergoing the torments of His Passion, Christ did not focus on His own suffering but thought of the good of others. 

But Jesus gave us more than just his example on Good Friday. He also gave us a way to love as he loves by infusing the cross with the power of His grace. By doing so, He transformed a tool of torture into a holy and life-giving instrument. And He can infuse this same spiritual power into the crosses that come into our own lives. By intentionally uniting our own sufferings, struggles and difficulties to His cross and passion, we can transform them into channels of grace and blessings for ourselves and others. Christians throughout the ages have learned of this power of the cross and through it have loved as Jesus loves even in the most difficult of situations. And each one of us can do the same if we choose to embrace the cross and not curse it. 

Mark Tianxiang was a Chinese physician and an active member of his parish. He was well respected as a doctor, married with children, and was known for his kindness and generosity in treating patients. However, easy access to pain medication proved to be too tempting for him and he gradually became a frequent user of opiates. Before long he became a full-blown addict. As his addiction spiraled downward his fellow parishioners shunned him and his pastor refused to hear his confessions or give him Holy Communion. Eventually he was even denied admittance into the parish church. You see, they knew nothing about the physiological and spiritual disease of addiction but were going by the widely held belief of the time that it was simply a matter of personal choice. 

But Mark did not hold this against them. And he did his best despite the addiction to maintain his relationship with Christ. He knew the genuineness of his faith even if his addiction hid it from the others. At the same time, he also knew the reality of the fierce battle going on within himself. He had moments, even stretches at a time, of sobriety but these were quickly followed by relapse. He just couldn't seem to beat the cycle of addiction. But he never stopped trying. He consciously united his pain, his struggles and even his falls to the Cross and Passion of Christ, for he knew that Jesus accepts all that we offer as long as it is offered out of love. 

Amazingly, despite how his parish treated him, Mark did not give up. Every Sunday he could be found outside the parish church, humbly kneeling at its door, begging for prayers as the people entered to attend Mass. And he would remain there, joining in their worship from afar, shunned as an outcast. This went on without fail, Sunday after Sunday, for 30 years. Inspired by the example of Jesus, he never threw insults back at those who condemned him and he forgave those who stepped around him as they entered the parish church. He simply kept trusting in God, confident that one day he would be set free by the transforming power of the Cross. That day finally arrived but in a way he never imagined. It was the summer of 1900 and Mark was about 60 years old. 

The Chinese government had begun a fierce persecution of Catholics. The parishioners of Mark's village were all summoned to the church, arrested and condemned to death. Of course Mark was not included because his name had long before been removed from the parish list. But suddenly, the main doors swung open and guess who began walking up the center aisle? It was Mark finally gaining admittance into his beloved parish church after 30 years. He approached the officer in charge of execution and declared, “I am one of them. If you take them, then you must also take me.” And then amazingly, he asked for permission to die last of all. 

Why did he make this request? According to surviving witnesses, it was to make sure that each one of his fellow parishioners who had shunned him would not die without someone who cared at their side. No matter how they had treated him for half of his life, he did not want a single one of them to face death alone and afraid. Like his Lord Jesus, Mark freely gave himself up for the sake of those he loved. Who would have ever thought that the parish outcast and village drug addict would turn out to be the one who would become a most amazing reflection of Jesus Christ? That’s the power of the cross of Good Friday! That’s how the transforming power of the Cross can cut through whatever sufferings, struggles and difficulties we might have to endure and enable us to love as Jesus loved, even to the very end.