Lest the Cross of Christ be emptied of its power

The times in which we live are filled with anguish, fear and pain; they're volatile, confusing, dark and unstable. Every day brings news, whether domestic or from across the world, which makes me ache, despair, cry out in anger, even as I can also rejoice in green shoots and glorious sunsets over the river. And today being the Sunday of the Word of God, I asked God what his Word would be for these times: words of denunciation... consolation... hope... solidarity... presence? 

I received my reply, of sorts, when the final words in the Second Reading leapt out at me: For Christ did not send me to baptise, but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. (I Cor 1:17)

Lest the Cross of Christ be emptied of its power... In June 2003, a few days before my perpetual profession of vows, as I prayed with the cross I would receive, I received an intuition to pray with the side on which are engraved the words Spes Unica - one and only hope. And in this intuition I heard Jesus tell me that it is here, in his death, his piercing, his brokenness, vulnerability and woundedness, wherein lies my only hope of resurrection, reconciliation and new life. And today he reminds me that here, in his Cross, lies all the power - and all the paradox and mystery - of his ultimate, all-redeeming victory over the immensity of sin and evil, however triumphant they might seem. 

As the opening words of our Constitutions remind us, God's mercy and faithfulness shine forth in a world wounded by sin... God, the Light which not only shines in the darkness but which the darkness can never overcome, is alive and active - can only ever be alive and active - in even the darkest, most wounding times and places. 

Lest the Cross of Christ be emptied of its power... These are rhetorical words, of course! Yes, our explanations and eloquence can falter, as can our faith... but no clever speeches, no despairing or weakness or indeed anything any of us can do can ever, truly empty the Cross of Christ of its power, which is Love. Because somehow, in Jesus' pain and wounds, and in our own pain and woundedness and that of our world, lies all the power and the strength of the unmeasurable, uncontainable love, hope, solidarity and redemption our broken and beautiful world so desperately needs.