April 12: Preparing to Celebrate Sunday’s Mass

Way back in 1776, a hymn was written under the title “Rock of Ages.” One of the most compelling lines of the hymn is this: “Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to thy Cross I cling.”

As we enter into Holy Week, we are reminded that the Cross will be the focal point of all of the events of this week. It will be hard, however, to “cling” to the Cross of Christ if we are at the same time clinging to our own achievements and reputation and virtue. The wisdom gained by experience shows us that the Cross begins to make sense only when we reach the end of our own resources, when we hit rock-bottom, when we run out of our own cleverness and schemes.

The Cross, far from being a decoration or just a piece of jewelry, is the very substance of our life’s pain and struggle. It tells us there is hope for us even at our very worst. The Cross’ power to save extends to both ends of the scale: it measures our life, beginning to end. Or rather, Jesus – the man who bore the Cross – is the measure of our life. The Cross shows His range: “Before He stretched out His arms between heaven and earth, to become the everlasting sign of the Covenant, He desired to celebrate the Passover with His disciples.” (First Eucharistic Prayer for Reconciliation, Roman Missal)

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St Thomas Aquinas was asked where he got his wisdom. “At the foot of the Cross of Christ,” he replied. There, contemplating the life and death of Jesus, he found a wisdom that went beyond human wisdom. God’s wisdom, after all, is described in the Bible (Wisdom 8, 1) as “reaching mightily from one end of the earth to the other.” In order to appreciate all of this, it will be important for us to hear the echo of these words (and make them our own) this week: “Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to thy Cross I cling.”