The Cross is Not Negotiable

“Holiness isn’t for wimps,” Mother Angelica famously said. “And the cross isn’t negotiable, sweetheart — it’s a requirement.”

I love Mother Angelica, and I love this quote. Following God is tough, and to do it you have to make a decision to be tough, to endure tough things — and ultimately, to love the toughness of it all, because within that struggle God meets us with mercy and salvation.

But in light of today’s readings, I think Mother Angelica would forgive me for tweaking her words a tiny bit.

Holiness is for wimps, because the cross isn’t negotiable.

When the unfaithful among the Israelites were bitten by the serpents, they were healed by looking upon the instrument of their suffering: the serpent itself, mounted on Moses’ staff. With a literary flourish that puts Homer and Shakespeare to shame, God inverts that primitive symbol. To heal us, he invites us to look upon the cross — the sacrifice which achieved our redemption.

Jesus came here to die on that cross for us. For the wimps. Because we couldn’t do it ourselves, even if we tried. We couldn’t right all of our wrongs, not if we had a million years to do it. We would keep screwing it up. We would keep failing. We’re wimps; that’s what we do.

But the cross — the cross is a magnificent invitation to something more. Divinity Himself, assuming the cloak of flesh and the weight of sin, so that when we look at the cross we might recognize ourselves. So that we might see what we have been, what we are, what we could be.

And none of it is negotiable.

©LPi