The Foolishness of the Cross

“The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing , but to those who are being saved it is the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:18

Indeed Jesus does say a lot of foolish things. “So the last shall be first, and the first last” (Matthew 20:16). “Blessed are they who mourn” (Matthew 5:4). “Blessed are the poor in spirit” (Matthew 5:3). The thing about Jesus' words is one has to start with faith, or we can't understand it. The tendency would just be to scoff at what He preaches. 

I like to read about saints because in their stories, the truth of what Jesus says comes alive. Saint Francis of Assisi gave up his luxurious life to live in total poverty. Blessed is Saint Francis who was poor here on the earth but received all the riches of the Kingdom. That is what Jesus died on the Cross to give us: the eternal riches of heaven. To get it, we have to be poor in spirit, totally dependent on God. "The helpless put their trust in You" (Psalm 10:14).

Saint Teresa of Calcutta mourned for those she cared for. She would stop her rickety van if she found someone abandoned on the streets of India. She would give time to the dying, the weak and the elderly. She could not bear for one to die without experiencing companionship and the love of Christ. So she would hold the feeble hand of one who was dying and accompany him to the threshold of God. Many times she has entered in solidarity with others' pain and suffering. "Harden not your hearts” (Hebrews 3:15).

It's easy for us to get inured to the pain and suffering of others. We get used to seeing street children dodging traffic, families living in a cart, young boys being killed for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, prisoners wrongly accused. The most foolish message of the cross is that God suffers with the suffering. 

If we are followers of Christ, we need to be a sign of God's mourning, and accompany those God sends our way.