Crosses For Sale

Jesus said to his disciples:                                                      

"The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected
by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed and on the third day be raised."

Then he said to all,
"If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself
and take up his cross daily and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.
What profit is there for one to gain the whole world
yet lose or forfeit himself?"
Luke 9: 22-25

Crosses come in all shapes and sizes.  As we look at the selection of crosses that are available, we notice that some are huge and heavy and some appear to be smaller and somewhat more manageable.  The salesman comes up to me and tells me that he has just what I am looking for.  He tells us to trust him.  He looks like a nice guy and so I tell him to pick out a cross for me.  I follow him as he goes up one row and down another.  He keeps up a pleasant chatter as we go through the supply of crosses.  He stops by a cross that is neither too large nor too small and he tells me that this is the one for me.  I look about and see some huge gnarley crosses that look like only a giant ironman could carry, I do not see any crosses that are smaller so I agree to accept the cross he has picked for me.  He invites me back to the office to sign the paperwork.  As he prepares the paperwork he tells us that he was glad that he was able to find a cross that was such a good fit.  

He does state that once I accept delivery that there is no turning back and the store has a strict no exchange policy.  Remembering how the cross selected compared to the other crosses I verbally assure him that I am very happy with my selection and I quickly sign the paperwork and with a smile, the salesman tells me to go to the pick-up area and the cross would be waiting for me.  

I get to the pick-up area and sure enough, there is a cross waiting for me.  It kind of looks similar to the one I saw on the sales floor but here it seems heavier and the wood that seemed so smooth on the sales floor seems very coarse and as I heft it, I get a splinter in my finger.  There has to be some mistake.  I turn and try to get back into the store, the door is locked and there is a red neon sign that says " No Returns or Exchanges." 

I turn back to my cross and I pick it up, it is so heavy and I begin to drag it out of the store.  Once outside I see two lines of people.  In one of the lines I see people running and skipping and laughing, without a care in the world, and not one of them is carrying a cross.  Instead, behind them are crosses of every size that had been discarded and they appear to be very happy.  But over the horizon in the direction that they are going to I see nothing but storm clouds. 

The other line was populated by people who were carrying crosses behind a man who carried the largest cross I had ever seen!  They walked slowly under their burden.  The horizon that they walked towards was bright and sunny and the people carrying the cross were not in tears.  They accepted their burden and when one of their neighbors seemed to stumble, they took on part of their neighbor's burden too until the neighbor could carry the cross on his own.  This teamwork, helping one another,  seemed to fill them with a great joy as they followed the huge cross carried by the Good Shepherd.  They traveled slowly but joyfully carrying their cross behind Jesus and when the going got tough, Jesus helped all with their burdens as they got ever closer to the promised land of Heaven. 

The crosses we receive in life can be carried or can be thrown away. The ones we carry will make us stronger and as we walk the road that Jesus walked we will learn to love more, to help more, and to experience the total joy of being a follower of Christ. 

I have to say this again.  Not everyone who dies goes straight to heaven. Purgatory is the temporary home of millions of good people who are preparing themselves to be in God's presence.  They are losing the attachment to sin that they carried into eternal life and Purgatory is the place where they will be cleansed of this.   Just because you don't believe in Purgatory does not mean that it does not exist.  Please pray for your relatives and friends who have passed.  Do not let your love end at the grave.  Millions of strangers, Protestants of all denominations who deny Purgatory are there now and because of their belief, they have no one to pray for them.  Please take a moment and pray for the poor souls in Purgatory.  They need our help and they need it now.