In February 2019, I was blessed to lead a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. We went to many places in the Holy Land where the events in the Bible actually happened. While we were in Jerusalem, we took the opportunity to walk the Way of the Cross. We started near the site believed to be where Jesus was condemned by pilot, then we walked through Jerusalem carrying a large wooden cross. We had at least 5 people carrying it at a time, and I was leading the Stations of the Cross as we stopped at different locations that commemorated those events. We couldn’t take the wooden Cross all the way to the top of Calvary because Calvary is inside the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.
Although we couldn’t take the cross all the way to Calvary, we did carry it most of the way. Why did we do that? ... Listen to my homily and find out!Readings: Jer 20:7-9; Ps 63; Rom 12:1-2; Mt 16:21-27
Key Themes: Good out of Evil, Carrying Our Crosses
Excerpt from homily:
Whatever difficulty, challenge, suffering, or burden we face, we can unite that to the sufferings of Jesus Christ for a greater good as we carry that cross. Some crosses can be small and easy to endure, like a paper cut. Others can be devastating and difficult to comprehend like the terrorist attacks that took place on 9/11 back in 2001. But, God can bring good out of any evil. We as a nation rallied together after 9/11 and for a time many who fell away from the faith came back. We must cooperate with the grace that God offers us when we are confronted with our crosses, and in this way we can experience and receive the good that He intends to bring out of it.
P. S. Ironically, I mentioned in my homily a cross of a paper cut and got one the next morning. Thank you Lord for the opportunity to carry this cross and offer up this minor suffering in union with the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of our Lord!
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