I learned about this beautiful Cross of Snow in Colorado and the poem that Longfellow wrote upon the death of his wife through a homily by Fr. Joseph Mary on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. I especially loved the quote from Fulton Sheen about the Cross without Jesus making it a burden, whereas, with our Savior, it becomes redemptive.
It reminded me of another quote of his from his book Life of Christ: “The Western post-Christian civilization has picked up the Christ without His Cross. But a Christ without a sacrifice that reconciles the world to God is a cheap, colorless, itinerant preacher who deserves to be popular for His great Sermon on the Mount, but also merits unpopularity for what He said about His Divinity on the one hand, and divorce, judgment, and hell on the other. This sentimental Christ... Without His Cross, He becomes nothing more than a sultry precursor of democracy or a humanitarian who taught brotherhood without tears.” All this reminded me of another beautiful quote by Dietrich Bonhoeffer on cheap grace. I can only hope and pray that Longfellow, at the end of his life received all the necessary graces to reach heaven.
The Cross of Snow
2 comments:
There is Jesus of Nazareth, but indeed there is no Christianity without the cross. Good post.
Thanks, Mirka. I have an overwhelming sense of gratitude for His Holy Sacrifice on the Cross and for a wretch like me. To be loved to such a degree is unfathomable.
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