Today, Jesus reminds us that the very purpose for which he came into the world was to save the world. And there is only one means by which the world is going to be saved: that is, the Cross of Jesus Christ. The Cross stands as the center point of all world history. When we consider the Cross, St. Paul reminds us that we are to glory in nothing but the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ; that must be our boast. St. Paul tells us, “For the world, that is folly. It seems foolishness to the world. It is a stumbling block to the Jews and it is folly to the Greeks. But for those who are being saved, the Cross is the wisdom and the power of God.”
For us who believe, we need to be able to say that we, too, with Jesus, are willing to take up the Cross; that we are willing to be hung on that Cross with him, to suffer with him in order to be raised with him. So, for us, the Cross truly is the wisdom of God. And for those who are saved, they understand that the Cross is the power of God because it is only by the wounds of Jesus, inflicted on the Cross, that we have salvation. So for us, with St. Paul, the Cross is not a point of shame, but it is a point of joy. It is recognized as truly the only means of salvation; the means by which Jesus did not condemn the world, but stood condemned so that the world could be saved. And for us, the Cross must be a means of glory, a means of hope, and a means of joy because it is the only means of salvation.
