The homily from EWTN Daily Mass on Oct 20, 2017 by Father John Paul was one of the best messages I have ever heard on the Cross of Christ.
The scripture reading that day was one of my most quoted passages by St Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:18-25
For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.
The Saint celebrated for that day was Saint Paul of the Cross who founded the religious order the Passionists who "express their participation in the Passion by a special vow, by which they bind themselves to keep alive the memory of the Passion of Christ. They strive to foster awareness of its meaning and value for each person and for the life of the world. They seek to incorporate this vow into our daily lives by living the evangelical counsels." Paul of the Cross took "taking up the cross daily to follow Jesus" quite seriously.
Father John Paul also quoted one of my favorite TV Catholic preachers Fulton Sheen, who was quoted this morning in Morning Offering: "It is part of the discipline of God to make His loved ones perfect through trial and suffering. Only by carrying the Cross can one reach the Resurrection." How profound!
These messages by the Venerable Fulton Sheen are worth reading:
The Divine Romance: The Pulpit Of The Cross
The Way of the Cross
and his famous Youtube archive on My Cross
One thing I will do from now on: when I make the Sign of the Cross I will do so with reverence and gratitude for what Christ has done for me.
I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:19b-20)
