Pope Francis has called Christians to contemplate the meaning of the cross, which he says is not just symbol, or a piece of jewellery, but a call to imitate the love of Christ.
'The Christian Cross is not a furnishing for the house or an ornament to wear, but a call to the love with which Jesus sacrificed himself to save humanity from evil and from sin,' the Pope said in his traditional Angelus address at the Vatican yesterday.
He said: 'In this Lenten season, we contemplate devoutly the image of the crucified Jesus on the cross: it is the symbol of the Christian faith, is the symbol of Jesus, who died and rose for us. We make sure that the Cross marks the stages of our Lenten journey to understand ever more fully the seriousness of sin and the value of the sacrifice with which the Redeemer has saved us all.'
The pontiff drew attention to the story of the Transfiguration told in Matthew's Gospel. He described the blinding light that the disciples witness when Jesus's face 'shone like the sun and his clothes became as white as light' (Matthew 17:2).
The purpose of this light is also a metaphorical illumination: 'to illuminate the minds and hearts of the disciples so that they can clearly understand who their Master is. It is a flash of light that suddenly opens the mystery of Jesus and illuminates all his person and all his story'.
Through the Transfiguration, the disciples see a Messiah they did not expect: 'not a powerful and glorious king, but a humble servant, and unarmed; not a gentleman of great wealth, a sign of blessing, but a poor man who has nowhere to lay his head; not a patriarch with numerous offspring, but a homeless bachelor without a nest'.
Francis called this 'a revelation of God upside down'.
This revelation is most clearly seen in the 'scandal of the cross', through which the glory of the resurrection is possible. In the Transfiguration, Jesus shows the disciples glory not to prevent from them the pain of the cross, but to show 'where the cross leads'.
The Pope said: 'Whoever dies with Christ, with Christ will rise again. And the cross is the door of the resurrection. Those who struggle with Him, with Him will triumph. This is the message of hope that the cross of Jesus contains'.
