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Good Friday, Cycle C
Sisters of Saint Joseph
Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania
April 19, 2019
The Prior, the Muslim and the 3 Crosses
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
The Third Cross
A few years ago, a Muslim man was visiting a small Trappist monastery in the Northern African country of Algeria.
This Muslim and the prior of the monastery were friends. The prior took his guest on a tour of the building, and eventually they came to the chapel.
The Muslim stopped and gazed wistfully at the crucifix. After what seemed like several minutes of silence, the prior asked his friend what he saw in the cross.
The Muslim man said: “I see three crosses here, certainly two crosses. There is definitely the cross in front and the cross in the back.
“The one in the front is formed by the extended arms of Jesus. This human body was created by God and is the cross of God’s embracing love.
“The second cross is the one behind Jesus. It was made of wood and made by humanity and is the cross of hatred.
“But it was love and not really nails that attached Jesus to this second cross. And it is this love which keeps drawing us forward to him.”
The prior could see all of this, but still puzzled he asked his Muslim friend: “What is the third cross that you see?” The visitor responded: “Ah! The third cross, it seems to me, is between the other two crosses.
“Isn’t it perhaps you Christians struggling to loosen yourselves from the cross of evil and sin behind, so that we can bind ourselves to the cross of love in front?
Isn’t the struggle of moving from violence to peacemaking, from hatred to love?
Isn’t that struggle a third cross?”
Good Friday
The prior thought his Muslim friend quite insightful.
Today, Good Friday, we look to the three crosses on every crucifix.
Perhaps this is one of the values of having a crucifix – a cross with the figure of Jesus on it. It gives us the opportunity to discern these three crosses for our own living.
So, we are moved by the first cross. This cross is Jesus himself reaching out to us with the love of God. Not only to
Ø Filling us with longing
Ø Knowing that we are loved
Ø Offering us forgiveness
But also to
Ø Stand in our disfunction
Ø Absorb our sins
And we are confronted by the second cross. This cross is the one that we construct out of
Ø Our self-centeredness, fears, and insecurity
Ø Out of our pride and ego
Ø Out of our narrowness and tribalism
Ø Out of our stupidity, anger and mistrust
Ø Out of our institutional injustice
Ø Out of our betrayal of friends
Ø Out of our scapegoating
Indeed, this is the cross on which we crucify both Jesus and one another.
Conclusion
Good Friday calls us to take up the third cross.
The good news in all this is that this is the cross of our effort and collaboration with God’s grace to loosen ourselves from the crosses we have made – the second cross…
And to attach ourselves to the first cross – the self-giving, sacrificial love of God in Jesus.
The Muslim’s 3 crosses is a helpful way for us to look at the crucifix from now on.
And all 3 are called to mind as we BODY, WOOD, and OURSELVES experiencing in the very moment a change of heart!
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