St. Anthony the Abbot Catholic Church

When Jesus suffered on the cross, He revealed His love for the Father and for us. When He allows crosses in our lives, it's because He wants to give us a chance to show and grow our love - because only a mature, tested love gives real meaning and joy to the human heart. This is the experience of all the Christian martyrs; they bore the sign of the cross courageously, and sometimes literally.

In the early 300s, the Roman Emperor Diocletian initiated an empire-wide persecution of the Church.  His first victims included his own chief of staff (chamberlain), whose name was Peter.  Since Peter had refused to sacrifice to the pagan idols (this was the test used to smoke out the Christians), he was hung up and severely whipped, front and back. They were trying to torture him into denying his faith in Christ - but he stayed true. So the executioners then poured salt and vinegar over his lacerated body.

Peter still refused to break the first commandment, so they dragged a cooking stove under him and began to roast what was left of his body over a slow fire. They did this so that the torture would take longer, thinking that they would wear down his resistance. They would move the stove around, so as to torture different parts of his body, one by one. They were ordered to continue doing this until the prisoner renounced Christ. But Peter never did. He ended up dying in great pain and humiliation, just as his Lord had died, innocent of any crime except firmly believing in and faithfully following Jesus Christ. This was a man who had understood how much Jesus loved him, and courageously showed Jesus the same kind of love in return - a faithful, persevering, and self-forgetful love.

Whether or not we believe in Christ, we will still have to bear crosses. Life in a fallen world is full of crosses, no matter what. No one is an exception when it comes to suffering and struggling in life. But as Catholics, members of Christ's mystical body, we can find meaning in these crosses.  The trick to doing that is to carry them with Christ, instead of trying to carry them alone.

The cross that Jesus carried wasn't really His cross. He had never sinned, never had a selfish thought or performed an evil act. The cross that He carried, the sin that He atoned for, was ours. And this is our comfort: we are never alone. In the midst of life's joys, Jesus is at our side. And in the midst of life's crosses, Jesus is also at our side. The cross only becomes unbearable and unfruitful when we forget this.

So, the key question is: How can we remember? How can we avoid the deep frustration and sadness that come from trying to carry our crosses alone? We must become men and women of prayer. Prayer must become as important for our souls as breathing is for our bodies. There is no other way. Jesus is with us now, because we are gathered in His name.