“Always be ready to give the reason for your hope” says Saint Peter. What is the reason? It is the cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

It is there that we see the triumph of his lowliness, the victory he won for us as one of us, stripped powerless, abused, derided, to teach us that love is stronger than death, mercy an unconquerable force, that hatred may be undermined by forgiveness and that God’s passionate desire to draw us to himself and into his life, to breathe into us his own spirit is certain to prevail. The cross is our guarantee, the assurance that the victory has already been won.

This is what the disciples learned from Jesus after his resurrection: that the cross was not a mistake, it was the place of the decisive encounter with all that is resistant to God’s will, the place where the battle was won.

That is why we sing in praise of the cross. It is the royal throne on which our King was lifted up to draw all men to himself. It is the tree of life which gives life to all of creation, pictured so beautifully in the apse of San Clemente.

We see beyond the horror and the torment to the inner meaning, God’s meaning, the unfolding of what it means to be Godlike, to be free, to live, since God himself is nothing other than self-emptying love.

O crux ave, spes unica!

 Hail o cross (our) only hope!

I will hear what the Lord God has to say

a voice that speaks of peace

peace for his people and his friends

and for those who turn to him in their hearts.

His help is near for those who fear him

And his glory will dwell in our land.

 Paradoxically this is the message of the cross: peace, mercy, justice.

To the eyes of faith the apparent triumph of evil, of hatred and violence, is its death knell. The cross proclaims a new era, the era of God’s justice, the inauguration of his kingdom. This peace is not imposed, it is offered by the God who has made himself defenceless, who has come to undermine our fear, our need to dominate others to destroy.

Mercy: “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do”. We have only to say “remember me Lord when you come into your kingdom” and he promises us paradise. The mercy seat is no longer hidden away, it is shockingly public, visible to the world.

Justice: God’s justice, his righteousness revealed when his hands are tied by love.

Glory: his glory, the cross already planted in every continent, prominent in every church.

So we have reason to hope- with God on our side, who can be against us?

Nos autem gloriari oportet

in cruce Domini nostri Jesu Christi

in quo est salus, vita et resurrection,

per quem salvati et liberati sumus.

 But we should glory in the cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ

in which we have health, life and resurrection

through which we have been saved and set free.

Our wellbeing, our vitality and the fullness of life to which we look forward all spring from this place, this point in our universe where two beams of wood intersect, where Jesus the Nazarene hung for several hours on a spring day at the time of Passover nearly two millennia ago.

Because of this day, which we now call “Good”, there is a new horizon. Although life may seem essentially the same- human instincts, needs and the hunger to possess and to control have not changed- the context is different. It is now possible to live differently, to refuse to get caught up in the cycle of violence, retaliation and exploitation, to let go of pretence and deceit, to discover the freedom and power of truth, non-violence and compassion.

This is because Jesus, the man who hung on that cross in torment, did not remain a decomposing corpse or a fading memory but three days later returned to his friends gloriously alive, the same person yet transformed, no longer limited by time and space and he promised them a share in this risen life.

In the meantime he gave them his own spirit to sustain, enliven, encourage and direct them, enabling them to pass on to others the  joy and peace they had experienced, joy and peace that could not be taken away.

We do well to sing.

Vexilla regis prodeunt,

Fulget Crucis mysterium

Quo carne carnis Conditor,

Suspensus est patibulo…..

 (The banners of the King go forth,

The mystery of the cross shines out

By which the Creator of flesh in the flesh

Was hanged upon the beam…)

Sr Mary Peter Smith

For a most illuminating article on the Apse Crucifix of San Clemente, Rome, mentioned above, see the link below:

https://www.liturgicalartsjournal.com/2025/04/a-detailed-look-at-twelfth-century.html

The image of the Cross which illustrates this post is from Fountains Hall, Fountains Abbey, Yorkshire.
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/fountainsabbey