Why the Cross?

Jesus Christ’s death on the Cross is the central act of human existence which links every act of suffering, self-giving, or self-denial with God Himself. The author, a priest who wrote on the eve of World War II, forcefully makes the connection between the Crucifixion as the horrible expiation for all sins and the need for ordinary faithful to willingly embrace suffering in its various forms to find their way to God. The author shows how the problem of obtaining happiness is intrinsically bound up with the problem of pain. Sacrifices undertaken for faith do not make one unhappy, if that faith is made a reality in the constant and ordinary activities of life. “Too many use their religion as medicine and not as food,” Leen writes. “They make of it a remedy for evil and not a means to good.”