“For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.” (John 3:17).
I recently read a very moving story about Saint Josemaria Escriva.
Saint Josemaria was dedicated to the Sacrament of Reconciliation. He spent many hours each week administering the sacrament. He was also dedicated to attending to the needs of the sick and suffering and often spent time visiting the sick and dying in hospitals and administering the Anointing of the Sick and the other Sacraments to them.
Once, the Saint was visiting a dying man, who was in hospital. The man was a gypsy and had lived a long and troubled life. Saint Josemaria administered the Sacrament of Reconciliation to this man and afterwards, before he left the dying man – for perhaps the last time on this Earth – he pulled out the crucifix he carried in his pocket and stretched out his hand for the dying man to kiss it.
The man immediately reacted in horror, saying, “I can’t kiss Our Lord with my horrible filthy rotten mouth.”
The Saint responded immediately and with compassion, saying, “Ah, but soon you will not only be kissing Him, but embracing Him as well, when you enter Heaven”.
And I have been thinking about this story today as I have been writing these words. You see, Christ said…
“No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, the Son of man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.” (John 3:13-17).
The crucifix is a weapon against evil. I carry a rosary bead in my pocket (and Saint Josemaria recommended carrying a small crucifix in one’s pocket as we approach our daily activities).
And we should hold that Crucifix in our hands and kiss it. We should speak to God in those moments of torment, when the crucifix is close to us. And we should keep God tangibly near us in those moments. Because there is no better reminder of the filth coming out of my mouth (or mind) than to feel that small piece of wood inside my pocket and to remember in whose presence I am standing. And there have been more times than I can count, when the physical presence of those beads in my pocket have been the only thing holding my faith in check.
And though that is a physical thing in a spiritual world, as a creature who is both physical and spiritual, I am lucky that my Lord and God provides me with the mechanism and the means to be protected in my life – through something as physical as a small wooden cross, to remind me of who I am and in whose presence I stand…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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