Memorial of Saint Augustine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
Christianity is replete with startling paradoxes. In order to have eternal life, you must die with Christ. In other words, to live you must die. This is a paradox, and Christianity has many such. Ultimate happiness can be obtained only by suffering with Christ. To see the infinite beauty of the divinity you must gaze upon the ugliness of Calvary.
The nicer, prettier crosses that we put in our homes, and in our schools, and in our hospitals are not there for aesthetic reasons. In fact, some judges of fashion find them disagreeable. Devout Christians put the cross in those places where we really need to be reminded of key Christian paradoxes. The cross is a symbol of the holy life that can only be acquired by a holy death.
If it does strike some eyes as unfashionable, and some intellects as foolish, that is as it should be. “We proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles” (1 Corinthians 1:23). “The foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength” (1 Corinthians 1:25).
What this means to the practitioner of Ignatian spirituality is that the cross of Christ can never be far from your prayer. It should be within eyesight of wherever you go to pray, or it should be on your person, and you should meditate on the cross more than just once a year on Good Friday. By meditating on the disturbing paradox of the cross you will find great peace for your small soul.