The Cross Transformed: From Death to Life

+JMJ+ To the ancient Romans, the cross was a tool of terror. It was the most shameful and brutal death imaginable, and it was reserved for slaves, criminals, and rebels. It was meant to humiliate, to strip away human dignity, and to extinguish hope.

Yet, in God's mysterious ways, this cruel instrument of death was transformed into the greatest sign of love and hope the world has ever known.

When Christ stretched out His arms upon the wood of the Cross, He embraced the world’s hatred and violence towards Him, and He conquered it. He did so, not with retaliation and violence, but with perfect love. As St. Paul writes, “the message of the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18).

The Cross is no longer a sign of defeat. Rather, it is a sign victory. It is no longer a symbol of death but of eternal life. It is the banner of hope lifted high for every generation, the assurance that nothing—not suffering, not sin, not even death—can separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:38–39).

The Cross in Our Lives

As Catholics, we don’t venerate the Cross as some sort of nice ornament. The cross is the very pattern of discipleship. Christ tells us plainly: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23).

When united with Christ, the Cross becomes life-giving. The very things that seem to crush us—the illnesses, the betrayals, the losses, the misunderstandings, the ridicule—can, in Him, become tremendous fountains of grace. St. John Paul II carried the heavy cross of suffering throughout his life (especially in his final years), said, “In the Cross and through the Cross, the Christian finds light, strength, and hope.”

The Cross is not meaningless suffering. It is the place where suffering is redeemed and transformed.

The Cross in the Public Square: Charlie Kirk

This past week, the brutal assassination of Charlie Kirk confronted us with the reality of the Cross. Here was a man who spoke boldly in the public square. He defended the truth at great personal cost, and he endured ridicule, slander, and ultimately violence.

From a worldly perspective, his death might look like defeat. If he view it through the eyes of faith, we see something else. Like St. John the Baptist who came long before him, Charlie accepted the cost of discipleship. He spoke truth in a culture that despises it, and he paid the price.

Christ warned us of this: “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you” (John 15:18). To follow Christ is to walk in His footsteps. Those footsteps always lead to the Cross.

Charlie’s death was not the silencing of his witness. In fact, the Cross shows us that it amplifies our witness. Like the blood of the martyrs that became the seed of the Church, Charlie's sacrifice has already lit a fire in countless hearts.

We must pray for his soul. Please never forget to pray for the dead and dying! We should never assume where their soul has gone to. However, we can also recognize in him an example of the courage that the Holy Spirit pours into the hearts of Christ’s followers. This is the gift of fortitude, one of the seven gifts of the Spirit, given to us in Confirmation so that we may stand firm as soldiers of Christ in a world that wars against Him.

The Cross in the Hidden Life: St. Carlo Acutis

Praise be to God, the Catholic Church now gives us the joyful witness of St. Carlo Acutis, the first millennial saint. He was canonized last weekend. Carlo did not bear his cross in the public square like Charlie Kirk did, but he did so in the hidden corners of ordinary life. At just 15 years old, he suffered from leukemia, and he offered his pain to God, saying, “I offer all the suffering I will have to suffer for the Lord, for the Pope, and for the Church.”

Carlo’s cross was quiet, but no less real. He chose to carry it with love, centered entirely on the Eucharist—the sacrament of Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross. He attended daily Mass, prayed the Rosary, spent hours in Eucharistic adoration, and used his gifts for technology to spread devotion to the Holy Eucharist throughout the world.

Carlo’s life is proof that holiness is not reserved for priests or for history’s great saints. It is possible for every Christian, even the young, even the ordinary, even those hidden from the spotlight.

One Cross, Many Callings

Charlie Kirk and St. Carlo Acutis lived pretty different lives. One bore his cross in the fire of public controversy. The other bore his cross quietly in youth and sickness. Yet, both point us back to the same truth: there is only one Cross, and each of us must embrace it.

For some, the Cross may mean public witness, ridicule, and persecution. For others, it may mean unseen sacrifices, small acts of love, and fidelity in the hidden moments of life. For all, the Cross is the only path to resurrection.

As St. Rose of Lima once said, “Apart from the cross, there is no other ladder by which we may get to heaven.”

Hope in the Shadow of the Cross

It is easy to look at the darkness of our times and feel despair. It is easy to see only suffering, division, and violence and ask, “Where is God?” But when we meditate on the Cross, we find our answers.

The very fact that God transformed the Romans’ cruelest tool of torture into the instrument of salvation proves that nothing is beyond His redemption. If He could transform the Cross into something so beautiful and profound, He can transform our lives, our sufferings, our Church, and even our culture.

St. Paul reminds us: “Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” (Romans 5:20). Evil never has the final word. Death does not win. The Cross stands as the unshakable sign that God brings life from death and hope from despair.

Our Call as Soldiers of Christ

The question before us is this: will we embrace our cross?

When we were confirmed, we were sealed with the Holy Spirit and strengthened with His gifts—wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. These are not abstract virtues. They are weapons for battle that give us graces for the fight. We are soldiers of Christ, and the world needs our witness now more than ever.

The Cross is our standard, our banner, our rallying cry. We march under it not in fear, but in hope. For to bear the Cross is to share in Christ’s victory.

Victory Through the Cross

Charlie Kirk and St. Carlo Acutis lived very different lives, but they are united by the same mystery: the Cross that once symbolized defeat has become the sign of victory. One carried it boldly before the world. The other carried it quietly in youth. Both remind us that the Cross is the only path to holiness and the only ladder to heaven.

The Romans thought the Cross was the ultimate sign of failure. God made it the ultimate sign of triumph. That is the hope we carry into our own struggles: that when we unite every suffering to Christ on the Cross, even the worst pain becomes radiant with love, the seed of sanctity, and the path to resurrection.

May the Holy Spirit strengthen us to take up our crosses with courage and joy, so that one day it may be said of us: Here was a faithful soldier of Christ, a child of God who embraced the Cross and found eternal life.

Reflection

The Cross is not the end. Rather, it is the beginning. What once symbolized shame and defeat is now our hope. It is our standard and our victory. Every time we make the Sign of the Cross on our bodies, we are proclaiming: “I belong to Christ. I march under His banner. I will not be overcome.” How are we embracing our crosses with courage? Do we understand that, through them, Christ is leading us to resurrection and eternal life?

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Prayer

Lord Jesus Christ, we adore your holy Cross. Teach us to carry our own crosses with love and perseverance. Strengthen us with the gifts of Your Holy Spirit, that we may live as faithful soldiers of Christ, witnesses of hope, and children of the Resurrection. May your Cross be our light, our strength, and our victory. Amen.