Take Up Your Cross (John 18: 1 - 19:42)

The Gospel reading for today's podcast may be found here. 

Transcript

Hi everyone, and welcome to Weekly Homilies with Father Mark Suslenko, Pastor of SS. Isidore and Maria Parish in Glastonbury, Connecticut. We are part of the Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford. I'm Carol Vassar, parish director of communications, and this is Episode 12 of Season 7 for Good Friday - March 29, 2024. Our Gospel reading is from John, Chapter 18 verse 1 through Chapter 19, verse 42, which may be found at the link in our podcast show notes for this episode. And now, Father Mark Suslenko 

“Take Up Your Cross,” by Father Mark S. Suslenko, Pastor, SS. Isidore and Maria Parish, Glastonbury, Connecticut

It is not enough to just worship Jesus,  but we have to become like Jesus.  Last night we reflected  upon the spark that is in each of our souls, that divine spark that comes from God and God alone.  It exists at the depth of who we are.  And if we listen very carefully to what is happening in our souls, there is this center, this place  wherein if we quiet ourselves from all the distractions and we focus a bit,  we can actually experience a place of incredible peace  that has with it the absence of pain.  And it's there in this very deep place within ourselves that we meet God and God alone. He alone has this claim on us.  And so when we received the Holy Eucharist, the body and blood of Christ,  we enter into this process of transformation where our Lord coming to us meets himself in that very secret and deep place,  and we are transformed into the image of Christ.  Even though we often want to make God into our image,  the Eucharist has the power to transform us into Christ.  And so if we are by the power of the Eucharist transformed into Christ,  then the crucifixion  also comes with that transformation.  We then  must be crucified. And  thata is where our devotion of Christ moves into something deeper,  when we truly begin to learn from Christ.  

As we go through our human journey,  there are many things that happen to us  that cause us to suffer pain.  And that pain can come from various places and touch us on very different levels.  It can be the pain that comes from  the rejection of someone we thought who loved us.  It can become the pain of betrayal.  It can become the pain  that we find ourselves carrying  when someone we love  has to now traverse a very difficult journey.  It could be that suffering we endure when we preach the Gospel and we find that voice rejected by those we thought would receive it happily.  We find ourselves suffering pain when we see our mortality

in clear view,  and we know our time of passing from this world to the next is near.  Whatever that suffering may be, it is inevitable,  but as a Christian, a believer in Jesus Christ and one who is transformed by the power of the Eucharist into Christ himself, what we do with it  is what matters.  

St. John of the Cross tells us when something distasteful or displeasing happens to us,  pause  and remember Christ crucified,  and be silent.  When something displeasing happens to us, pause.  Remember Christ crucified,  and be silent.  Because when we gaze upon the cross,  then the mystery of that brutal act  also begins to take root in our own souls and our hearts and minds.  

St. John of the Cross further reminds us that the road is narrow. It's not supposed to be an easy one.  No one ever said you're going to get through this world without some scars and some bumps and some deep pains and sorrows.  The road is narrow  and if we want to really embrace the Gospel and embrace our faith in Jesus Christ,  getting through that gate  is very difficult Indeed,  because it truly means that I must put myself aside  and act  like Christ. 

And so St. John the Cross tells us then  if you want to make this journey easier,  if you wanna do it more purposefully,  then don't see the cross as our enemy,  but see the cross  as our cane,  that very thing that can help us through,  that can give us a sense of hope, that can instill within our souls the promise that we know it reveals. 

Our lives  are  lived as they are  for a reason.  Our journey is the journey we find ourselves traveling.  Whatever that may be, and whatever the particulars look like for each one of us,  for a reason.  We will not understand the fullness of that reason  until that day we meet God face-to-face.  But,  we can clear ourselves from life's clutter and noise a bit  to attune our ears and our souls to listen more deeply to that deeper part of ourselves where,  in the undercurrent of life,  as our day-to-day events play out,  we find this river of meaning and hope and presence  that is the very presence of God himself.  It is there that we learn to touch our soul  and realize that there is this place within us where there is no pain,  that reveals to us, even now, the light of resurrection to come.  So we must take up our own crosses  and follow the one who has paved that way  before us. esn't take much  to give someone the hope we celebrate here today. 

Father Mark Suslenko is the pastor of SS. Isidore and Maria Parish in Glastonbury, Connecticut. Learn more about our parish community at www.isidoreandmaria.org. And follow us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Our music comes free of charge from Blue Dot Sessions in Fall River, Massachusetts. I’m Carol Vassar. Thanks for joining us.