“May His sacrifice
on the cross bring God’s love and mercy to us all.” ~ 1
Corinthians 1:23
After his baptism, the exhausted infant returned home and
was put to bed. His was the kind of sleep adults dream of - peaceful and rhythmic,
oblivious to any fear or pain.
Sometime later, his
Mom said, “When I changed his clothes, I forgot to put his cross back on.”
Joe, the boy’s Godfather, rose quickly. “Please let me put the cross
on my new Godchild!”
But when he placed the
cross delicately around Johnny’s neck, the little angel awoke and began screaming.
His mother rushed in, smiled softly, and, in her soothing way, took the scared
child from his outstretched arms.
No matter how she
tried to console the boy – cuddle, rock, or sing softly to him, nothing worked.
Next, Dad appeared in relief, but Johnny’s shrill cries continued, broken only by
his gasping for breath in between.
When Dad carried the
child out to their waiting guests, the baby’s cries ended immediately. He broke
into a smile as sweet as a Dominican pineapple.
“That’s all he
wanted,” Dad smiled jokingly. “He must’ve wanted to join the celebration.”
He’d barely finished
when a loud noise from the nursery shook the whole house. A cloud of dust wafted
from the bedroom as they all rushed in. A ceiling fan had fallen from right
over Johnny’s crib. Huge pieces of wood and plaster were piled on the spot
where the child had just slept.
Anyway, that’s how the
story was told to him.
The cross he wears today isn’t to honor the Dad that may’ve
saved his life. It hangs on a thin, gold chain that his Mom wore before her passing.
It’s not jewelry, nor
meant to be flashy. For him, it offers both spiritual and sentimental
significance.
First, it's meant to
remind him of Jesus’ sacrifice on that torturous cross. It prompts him to take
up his cross every day. In the words of John Wesley, "Do all the
good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, to all the
people you can, as long as ever you can."
Another reason he wears
a cross is so that others know that he’s a Christian and to hold him
accountable for that claim. It challenges him to live his faith publicly.
Finally, he keeps his
cross near his heart to remind him of Christ’s promise of eternal salvation. He
knows that he’ll be reunited with loved ones in Heaven someday and will
recognize his mother and father immediately.
There may be other
methods of achieving this, but for him, the cross he wears is the best. Jesus
died on a cross; it’s the least he can do!
“Heavenly Father, lift the darkness from our
hearts. Instill in us proper Christian faith, assured hope, confident action, and
perfect love, that we may do Your holy and true command.” ~
St. Francis of Assisi
