What is it that Âdraws us to the Condemned One in agony on the Cross?
Certainly the sight of such intense suffering stirs compassion. But compassion is not enough to lead us to bind our very life to the One who hangs on the Cross.
How is it that, generation after generation, this appalling sight has drawn countless hosts of people who have made the Cross the hallmark of their faith?
Hosts of men and women who for centuries have lived and given their lives looking to this sign?
From the Cross, Christ draws us by the power of love,
divine Love, which did not recoil from the total gift of self;
infinite Love, which on the tree of the Cross raised up from the earth the weight of ChristÂs body, to counterbalance the weight of the first sin;
boundless Love, which has utterly filled every absence of love and allowed humanity to find refuge once more in the arms of the merciful Father.
May Christ lifted high on the Cross draw us too, the men and women of the new millennium!
In the shadow of the Cross, let us Âwalk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God (Eph 5:2).
PRAYER
O Christ lifted high,
O Love crucified,
fill our hearts with your love,
that we may see in your Cross
the sign of our redemption
and, drawn by your wounds,
we may live and die with you,
who live and reign with the Father and the Spirit,
now and for ever.
R. Amen.
All:
Our Father ...
Stabat Mater:
Holy Mother, pierce me through;
in my heart each wound renew
of my Saviour crucified.