The simple gift of this cross has caused me to do much thinking about how I express my faith. It was given to me after the Easter Vigil Mass in 2018 by Benjamin and Maddie Bevirt who I had just assisted through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Children (RCIC). When giving it to me, their mom Christine said, "as a pastoral associate we thought you could use it."
As "out there" in my faith as I can be, I've never been one to wear a cross. I remember a philosophy professor that I had worked with years ago wearing a very large wooden cross. I remember thinking, "who wears a cross that big?"
Over the past year, I've worn the cross off and on. I must admit, it made me wonder, "what are people going to think about it?" Are they thinking he's like the people that Jesus talked about in the Gospels who want everyone to see how "holy" they are? Will it make me less approachable with those who aren't into their faith? Is it going to help, hurt, or make no difference in my spreading the Good News?
Over the past year, Bishop Zinkula has led a diocese-wide effort to get us more comfortable with sharing our Catholic faith. You've heard the effort referred to as Vision 20/20. You'll be hearing more about it in the days to come. It has caused me to reflect more on the ways in which I share my faith. So...in Lent, I decided to wear the cross every day. It kind of seemed like a good Lenten thing to do!
After Lent was over, I have continued to wear it daily. Don't get me wrong. I know that if anybody can get away with wearing a cross in everyday life, its someone like me who works for the church. In other settings, especially secular workplaces, it would be much harder to do and in some cases, it might even be discouraged.
Why am I sharing this? If we are honest, all of us can have our comfort levels be challenged by how much of our faith we express to the world. For me, its important to accept those challenges. If I'm always comfortable in my expressions of faith, I might be missing a deeper encounter with Jesus who saved the world by embracing a cross that wasn't necessarily very popular.
Along those lines, Bishop Robert Barron recently wrote this about the cross. "It is no accident whatsoever that the Roman authorities would place crosses in very public locations, for they were meant to be seen. If anything symbolized the terror, cruelty, and violence of the corrupt world, it was this awful thing. But the first Christians, in a manner that must have struck their listeners as bordering insanity, held up the cross, spoke of it, celebrated it. Who can forget St. Paul's strange claim: I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified." (1 Cor. 2:2).
