Every loss brings sadness, but when death happens in a tragic or sudden way, it can seem unbearable. How does one mourn the untimely departure of a loved one? How do we deal with our shock, pain and even doubts? We wonder why it happened and we ask: Where is God in this?
These are the same questions the apostles faced 2,000 years ago after Jesus’ crucifixion. They, too, went through a living nightmare — much like how we struggle to make sense of loss that feels senseless.
The apostles’ anguish was perhaps worse, because of the fact that by mourning Jesus’ death they put their own lives at risk. As his followers, they faced persecution.
Yet the early Christians not only overcame their grief, coming to terms with the Lord’s violent and shameful death. They grew to accept, embrace, celebrate and proclaim it.
Rather than trying to forget that the Jesus for whom they had given up everything — who healed people and preached love — had been betrayed, abandoned, arrested, beaten, tortured and nailed to a cross like a criminal, they remembered his death with reverence and awe.
Two millennia later, many Christians wear crosses around their necks. Catholic churches display a crucifix, a cross bearing the crucified Christ, and Mass cannot be said without one. We begin and end every prayer with the Sign of the Cross.
The very death which had caused the apostles’ pain, shame and defeat became the sign of victory: of love over hate, of darkness over light, of life over death.
Only the power of the Gospel makes this mystery possible. In addition to his appearances at the empty tomb and in the Upper Room, the resurrected Jesus walks with his followers in all their pain and confusion. He appears to Mary Magdalene as a gardener; to two disciples as an unrecognized traveler explaining Scripture and breaking bread; and to the apostles as a fisherman preparing breakfast. He manifested his presence in ordinary occurrences of daily life.
So convinced were his friends that Jesus was truly risen that they could return without dread to the places they had frequented together before his crucifixion. They recalled his teachings and actions not with remorse or regret, but with grateful remembrance. They found the courage to recount and record the grievous details of his final hours.
The early Church went from being a group of fearful, traumatized victims into victorious proclaimers of Christ Crucified. Their pain was transformed into proclamation, and this proclamation transformed the world.
Jesus said, “When I am lifted up, I will draw all things to myself.” (John 12:32) Why would a tortured man who was nailed to a cross draw people to himself? Because, in the image of Christ Crucified, our deepest heart recognizes the human condition. Many of us undergo failure and betrayal or abandonment, and all of us will experience death.
The Cross plays three parts in our lives. First, we each carry our own cross. That is when we try to be faithful to the Gospel, even when we are met with hostility for the sake of love or justice.
Second, at times we help others carry their burden, or — like Simon of Cyrene — someone else helps us to carry ours.
The third is perhaps hardest of all. It happens when we, like the Blessed Mother and the Beloved Disciple, can do nothing more than stand in silence at the foot of the Cross and watch someone we love suffer and die.
The inclusion in the Gospels of each of these types of instances helps to strengthen and encourage us, especially in times of suffering and dealing with death. Encountering the Crucified and Risen Lord, the apostles overcame their grief and fear to boldly proclaim the Cross as the gateway to fullness of life.
Let us pray that all broken hearts may be healed by the same grace. This is the true triumph of the Cross.
Featured image: A man holds a crucifix as Pope Francis celebrates Mass at Taci Tolu Park in Dili, East Timor, during the pope’s 2024 apostolic trip. (OSV News/Dita Alangkara/Reuters/East Timor)
