The cross speaks to us “a love beyond all tellling”
The joy of the Easter message cannot be proclaimed without the backdrop of Calvary and the Cross of Christ.
Both the Scottish Parliament and the Queen’s official residence in Scotland, bear the ancient Scots’ title of Holyrood, which refers of course to the Holy Cross, long venerated and held sacred in this land.
An abbey predates the palace of Holyrood; the abbey is now a charming gothic ruin, but it once housed a relic of the True Cross, that belonged to St Margaret of Scotland.
The story of the True Cross is fascinating, it was discovered at Jerusalem in the year 326 AD by St Helen, the mother of Constantine the first Christian emperor of Rome.
The veneration or kissing of the cross on Good Friday can be traced back to St Helen and the fourth century church at Jerusalem.
The practice is recorded by a Spanish pilgrim Egeria, who said that on Good Friday the bishop would present a relic of the True Cross to the faithful, who would reverently venerate the cross with a kiss.
This ancient practice spread through the church and remains with the reading of the Passion central to the solemn liturgy of Good Friday.
The cross speaks to us “a love beyond all telling” of a God so in love with his people that He will go to any length to save us. In the cross everything is given to us, God holds nothing back from us.
At the very moment of Christ’s death on the cross, the Gospels recounts that the veil in the temple was torn in two; the unbridgeable gulf between God and his people is healed by the sacrifice of Christ.
The paradox of the cross is that an instrument of torture and death becomes for us the means of our salvation, the tree of death becomes the tree of eternal life. The ancient fathers of the church loved to make this point, when pondering the meaning of the cross.
They contrasted the tree in the garden of Eden, which brought about the fall from grace of our first parents, with the fruit of the tree of life of Calvary which bring us salvation.
This is beautifully symbolised in St John’s account of the crucifixion, when he recounts how the centurion pierced the side of Christ with a lance, from which flows out blood and water.
The gospel writer in emphatic about this incident and underlines it with these words of assurance “is trustworthy evidence, given by one who saw it.”
St John is so emphatic about this, because it is from the heart of our Saviour that there flows out an infinite ocean of divine mercy, which brings us life, healing and restoration.
For Catholics this has special sacramental associations pointing to Baptism (water) and Eucharist (blood) the foundation of the church’s life. It reminds us that it is from the heart of Christ that the church is born.
Just as Eve was taken from the side of Adam as he slept, so the church is brought forth from the deep sleep of the Christ on the cross.
At Easter the church shares this new life with those adults who wish to become Christians.
After a process of instruction and catechesis that has often lasted many months or even years those who wish to receive the sacraments of Christian Initiation are baptised, confirmed and admitted to the table of the Eucharist as God’s children.
Easter brings new life and hope, the darkness of the tomb is vanquished forever by the light of God’s eternal day: the day of Resurrection, which is must always be the reality of each and every day for all who bear the name Christian.