On September 14, we celebrate the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. We know that the Cross changed the world. But have you ever thought about what happened to the men who actually shared in Christ's suffering that day?
Simon of Cyrene hadn't planned to carry Jesus' Cross.
He was passing by when the soldiers seized him and “laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus” (Luke 23:26). Suddenly, Simon found himself walking behind a condemned man, carrying the very wood upon which Christ would die.
Scripture doesn't tell us what Simon thought or whether that encounter led to his conversion. It does leave us wondering what happened after that walk to Calvary. Simon did not seek out the cross. It was thrust upon him, much as the crosses in our own lives often are. Yet in carrying Christ’s Cross, Simon was brought into an intimacy with His suffering that he would likely not have chosen for himself.
Then there was another man who shared Christ's suffering even more literally.
The Good Thief was crucified beside Jesus. Unlike Simon, he deserved his sentence, and he admitted it. Yet as he suffered beside Christ, his heart was converted, and he said:
“Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (Luke 23:42).
And from the Cross came the answer: “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43).
The Good Thief could do nothing to change his past. He couldn't climb down from his cross and begin again. He could only turn toward Christ from the cross he was already carrying.
This is a powerful image as we contemplate the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.
We don't often choose our crosses. Simon didn't. But sometimes we create them through our own choices, as the Good Thief had.
But whatever crosses we bear, and we will bear them, we can make them an opportunity to unite with the suffering Christ, and this changes everything.
"Into Your Hands, Father: Abandoning Ourselves To The God Who Loves Us" by Carmelite Father Wilfrid Stinissen explores the profound concept of surrendering to God's love. Fr. Stinissen talks extensively in this powerful little book about uniting ourselves in our own sufferings to Christ. Discover this profound book at The Catholic Company!
