The Reward of the Cross
Saturday, August 2nd Readings Reflection: Saturday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s Gospel recounts the death of St. John the Baptist. King Herod was adulterously and unlawfully married to his brother’s wife, Herodias. At Herod’s birthday celebration, Herodias’ daughter danced and delighted Herod so much that he swore to give whatever she asked. At the instruction of her mother, the girl asked for the head of St. John the Baptist on a plate, and the king finally capitulated and ordered the murderous deed to be performed.
In his commentary on this Gospel, Pope St. Gregory the Great pointed out the contrast between St. John the Baptist’s great role in being chosen as the voice in the desert to prepare the way of the Lord and the shameful death he experienced. This great prophet, who was cleansed of Original Sin in his mother’s womb at the sound of Our Lady’s voice, was killed at the request of a dancing girl at a party. St. Gregory wrote that by permitting His faithful ones to suffer “in the least things,” God “reward[s] them in the highest things” (Catena aurea). Similarly, St. Gregory warns, the punishment of those who do not remain faithful will be even greater than the sufferings endured on earth by those who are faithful.
This contrast is striking, especially in light of our temptation to think that God has abandoned us whenever sufferings beset us. There is a beautiful anecdote from the life of St. Teresa of Avila that illustrates how the life of a Christian is a life of suffering. In the midst of suffering, St. Teresa heard Jesus say, “This is how I treat My friends.” St. Teresa replied, “No wonder You have so few of them!”
To follow Christ is to bear the Cross of Christ. Unless we are nailed to the wood of the Cross, dying to our sinful and inordinate desires and living only for God, we cannot enter the Kingdom of God. Some martyrs, like St. Peter, experienced this in a very real way, meeting their own deaths in a crucifixion much like Our Lord’s. For most of us, however, this crucifixion and death to self occurs throughout our entire earthly lives, with many opportunities each day to embrace the Cross and deny our sinful desires. When we do so, we become more and more conformed to Christ.
Our Lord exhorts us to be “perfect, as also [our] heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt 5:48 DRB). He does not want us to become a saint by halves; rather, He calls us to become perfect in imitation of Him. We cannot do this alone, but God’s grace enables us to accomplish this otherwise impossible task if we allow Him to work in our lives. The process can be slow and is often painful, but like a loving Father, God permits all sufferings in our lives to lead us closer to Himself. These sufferings are, as my priest so often says, “privileged places of encounter” where we can meet God and become more conformed to Him by uniting our sufferings with His, placing them within His Sacred Heart and allowing Him to encompass us within the loving embrace of His mercy.
St. John the Baptist, pray for us, that we may courageously and patiently bear our crosses and enable them to conform us ever more fully to Christ.
