June 17, 2012: Love on the Cross – Michael Hidalgo

There is simply no greater act of love in the history of humankind than that of Jesus hanging, bleeding, and dying on a Roman instrument of torture. In many ways we have sanitized the cross, for in many traditions there is no longer a crucifix just a cross. Yes, we must always remember that Sunday follows Friday, but we must also dwell on Friday. For without the death there is no resurrection. 

What if we place Jesus back on the cross? What would that do to our perception of this? What would that do to the way we view Sunday? As beloved sons and daughters we should tremble and the whole community quake when contemplating the cross and the Friday we call good. Brennan Manning suggests that “organized religion has domesticated the crucified Lord of Glory in to a tame theological symbol. He does not disturb our comfortable piety.”