Monday, March 11, 2013

The Power of the Cross

The whole world is watching the Catholic Church!  I think its awesome that even those who denounce the Catholic Church or have left it, are now watching, talking about who will be the next Pope, commenting on all the sacred rituals, traditions and symbols of the Church!  It is an exciting time for our Church and we as Catholics should be even more excited than the rest of the world because God is preparing to move in power in the next few days.  By the power of the Holy Spirit, we must TRUST and BELIEVE that His Will will be done and the man He has chosen will become our next Spiritual Shepherd; the one who will guide us in Truth and give us the strength to continue to stand witness for Him in a world that is struggling to remove themselves farther and farther away from Him.

And if the world is watching the Catholic Church, the world is also watching those who call themselves Catholics!  That inadvertently prompts a heavy reality check on all of us. What kind of witness does our life, our words, our actions give to the Catholic faith? 

Many years ago I read a story about a woman who was very lost and alone and wanted desperately to find God.  In her despair, she reached out to the cashier in the grocery store she often went to.  The cashier did not know her but she went up to her one day and asked her, "Can I please go to Mass with you?"  The Cashier quickly said, "Of course!" as she could see that the women appeard to be very distressed.  She gave her directions to her house and told her she would wait for her on Sunday to attend Mass.  The woman went home with a sense of hope; on Sunday she would go and experience God.  She remembered that once when she was young she had gone to Mass with her chilhood friend and her family and her friend had given her a little lace doily to place on her head.  She didn't have one now - what she should do??  She quickly found a lace tablecloth and cut a little cirlce, put a bobby pin in it and decided that would have to do.  On Sunday, she showed up early to the cashier's home and was more than excited to get to Mass.  On their way over there, she told the cashier that she was sorry that she didn't have the proper head covering and hoped her little make-shift doily would be OK.  The Cashier smiled warmly and said, "Oh, it will be just fine!"  During the Mass she watched and listened; the reverence of the people touched her soul and she felt a great sense of peace listening to the prayers, since she really didn't  know any of them well enough to recite, except for the Our Father.  She did not get in line to receive Communion; the Cashier assumed she was not prepared to receive and thought nothing of it.  As she sat there in silence, looking up at the crucifix, she allowed herself to feel the love of God for the first time in a very long time! 

After Mass was over, the Cashier could see that some of the desperation in her face seemed to have eased.  She softly asked, "How long has it been since you've been to Mass?" "Oh, I'm not Catholic" she replied.  Puzzled, the woman asked, "Oh. Well, I'm really glad you decided to come and you're welcome to come with me any time, but....may I ask why you wanted to come with me?  To my Church?"  The woman smiled and said; I didn't know where to turn; I don't know many religious people, but I noticed that every time I saw you, you wore a crucifix.  Not a cross, but a crucifix and in my suffering, that is what struck me the most.  Jesus suffered on the cross and I wanted to see if He could help me in my own suffering.  I once went to a Catholic Church and I was struck by the crucifix because we didn't have that in my church or other churches I had been to. That is why I wanted to go to church with you."

There is power in the Cross and most especially in the Crucifix.  Many people are suffering in silence and they need to experience that sacrifical love that Jesus showed on the cross.  Yes, we glorify the Risen Christ, but he had to suffer and die first, and we can never forget that if we want to rise from our own suffering and rise to new life! That is why we have a crucifix in every Catholic Church and that is why we wear one.

I was warned not to bring any religious symbols to Bahrain.  My first concern was my crucifix; I wear it daily and I actually made a conscience decision to wear it always since I read that story above.  I wanted everyone to know that I'm a Catholic-Christian; I wanted to give witness to Jesus' sacrifical love.  It is a constant reminder to me also to "live" my  Catholic faith and values so I decided that I would bring it anyway.  I would wear it tucked inside my clothes if I had to.  Well, I have since learned that it's OK to wear it; I asked an Arab man who gave us a class on the culture here if it was OK to wear it and he said "Yes.  Absolutely!  The veils you see some women wearing across their face are simply symbols of piety; they are very religious women.  If you wear a cross, they will simply know that you are a religous person.  There is no problem with it."  So I began to wear it openly, even though I was still a little nervous.  And then something VERY STRANGE happened the other day.  Dave and I were at a restaurant having lunch.  The waiter was Asian; a very sweet and attentive young man.  In fact, he gave us the best service we've  had since we arrived here!  At the end of the meal, as we were leaving, he came up to us and said, "Thank you again for coming and GOD BLESS YOU!"  I smiled and said "Thank you" and walked out and then I looked at Dave and his face was just priceless!  He looked at me and said, "did he just say God bless you???  Why would he say that? Why would he say that here??"  " I don't know" I said.  How would he have known it was OK to say that to us?  Surely he didn't see us saying Grace before our meal because Dave and I have come up with a way to do that without being noticed, since we never know who will be watching....we just hold hands and look at each other as if we are talking and then we make the sign of the Cross on our leg under the table.  So how would he have known???  A thought then ran across my mind; it was my Crucifix!!!  He must have seen my Crucifix because it was very noticeable that day. 

You may disagree, but I felt as if God was reassuring me that wearing my Crucifx openly is safe and the right thing to do!  All of a sudden, this young man felt free to bestow a blessing on us; how wonderful is that?  Maybe it's time to say Grace openly before meals in public too??  I don't know.  But I do know that the WORLD is watching the Catholic Church and all of it's members very closely right now; may we all bear witness to her Truth and Beauty in every little way we can!

Oh and by the way, as I was thinking about that incident later, I told Dave, "Do you remember our waiter's  name?  He wrote it on the tablecloth for us?"  Dave says "No..."  It was ANGEL!!  :)

Blessings from Bahrain!
 

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