“everyone who believes in him may have eternal life”
Who was at the foot of the Cross? We know that the Blessed Mother, Mary the wife of Clopas, Saint John the Apostle, and Mary Magdalene were at the foot of the Cross. Blessed John Paul II called the Cross a, “privileged place”. It is a privilege to be not only at the foot of Christ, but also place ourselves alongside Our Lady, Saint John, and Saint Mary Magdalene.
Who is called to be at the foot of the Cross? Each of the three tells us something about this “privileged place” at the foot of the Cross. It is God who places each one of us there, and invites all to the Cross.
The Holy – Mary is at the privileged place of the Cross because of holiness. Our Lady is immaculate and free from sin. Therefore, a life of holiness in which we pursue good and avoid evil, will lead us to the Cross. The Cross is the source of holiness; the font of salvation. At the beginning of Jesus’s life Mary proclaimed, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord.”[i] At the end of Jesus’s life, Mary is still proclaiming the greatness of the Lord as she is placed at the foot of the Cross and stands by her Son with dignity and courage proclaiming the victory of the Cross.
It is no coincidence that the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross falls within the Octave of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Sept. 8). Mary is intimately connected with the Cross. This is expressed in the ancient prayer of the Church the Stabat Mater (found at the end of this packet) that is prayed verse by verse at the end of each Station of the Cross.
The beginning of our life with Christ took place at our baptism. At our baptism the priest or deacon prayed, “Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ, the Father’s only Son, for you offered yourself on the Cross that in the blood and water flowing from your side and through your death and resurrection the church might be born.”[ii] Therefore, at the beginning of our life, we are at the Cross and called to a life of holiness. If that call to holiness is lived out, we will end at the foot of the Cross, sharing in the victory of Christ. “We are buried with Christ in the death of baptism” and “rise also with him to newness of life.”[iii]
This newness of life is the call to holiness, a call to live the Life of Christ, to live the Gospel. Our Lady lived this life perfectly. It is a life of death and resurrection, of suffering and love. “If one does away with the fact of the Resurrection, one also does away with the Cross, for both stand and fall together, and one would then have to find a new center for the whole message of the Gospel.”[iv] We start at the Cross, and we end at the Cross. In fact, as a Christian, we never truly leave the Cross, for it is our center, our Book of Life. In the words of Mother Cabrini, “My book will be the Crucifix. I will always keep it before my eyes to learn how to love and to suffer.”[v] Mary is our model in holiness. “She is also Mother of the Church by the generous sacrifice of her Son on the Cross, at which time Christ made us children of Mary when He told John, ‘This is your mother’ (John 19:27).”[vi]
How to the lay faithful live out the call to holiness? The faithful, through baptism have been called to holiness, given a mother (Mary), who is the perfect example of holiness, and given the grace necessary to answer the call. “Lay people share in Christ's priesthood: ever more united with him, they exhibit the grace of Baptism and Confirmation in all dimensions of their personal family, social and ecclesial lives, and so fulfill the call to holiness addressed to all the baptized.”[vii] The lay faithful are united intimately to the Cross of Christ and share the priesthood and redemptive work of Jesus Christ at every liturgy. “Through the liturgy Christ, our redeemer and high priest, continues the work of our redemption in, with, and through his Church.”[viii] The “work of our redemption” is necessary and so to liturgy is necessary.
The Sinner – Saint Mary Magdalene is at the privileged place of the Cross out of gratitude and because of conversion. It is not only holy men and women who find their privilege place at the foot of the Cross, but also the sinner. The Cross is the privileged place for the convert. Many may not start at the Cross, but if they have a repentant heart and experience conversion, they will end at the Cross. Mary Magdalene is an example of a person, who cooperated with the grace that Christ merited for her on Calvary. The grace, which has been merited, is open to all, but not all will cooperate. All of Jesus’ parables find the fulfillment in the Cross. In the parable of the wedding feast Jesus says, “Many are invited, but few are chosen.”[ix] Saint Mary Magdalene was invited, and with her life she said, “Yes,” a “yes” that led her to the privileged place of the Cross. “The devotion she showed to Jesus was gratitude for the fact that He had driven seven demons out of her (Mark 16:9). According to tradition, she had been a harlot. Her faithfulness is clearly seen in that she was one of the few on Calvary at the Crucifixion (Matthew 27:56). She watched Jesus being buried and was one of the three women who went to the tomb on Resurrection morning (Mark 15:47; 16:1) and discovered that Jesus had risen (Matthew 28:1-8). The first one to whom He appeared that morning was Mary Magdalene (John 20:14-18).”[x]
Mary Magdalene goes from having seven demons in her, to being the Bride of Christ; this is the mercy of Jesus, flowing from the Cross.
“Conversion to Christ, the new birth of Baptism, the gift of the Holy Spirit and the Body and Blood of Christ received as food have made us "holy and without blemish," just as the Church herself, the Bride of Christ, is "holy and without blemish." Nevertheless the new life received in Christian initiation has not abolished the frailty and weakness of human nature, nor the inclination to sin that tradition calls “concupiscence”, which remains in the baptized and with the help of the grace of Christ they may prove themselves in the struggle of Christian life. This is the struggle of conversion directed toward holiness and eternal life to which the Lord never ceases to call us.”[xi]
Mary Magdalene, the convert coming from a life of sin into the Church becomes the Bride of Christ and a new creation. The convert at their baptism is clothed with a baptismal garment and told, “…you have become a new creation and have clothed yourselves in Christ. Receive this baptismal garment and bring it unstained to the judgment seat of our Lord Jesus Christ, so that you may have everlasting life.”[xii] As a new creation, there is no turning back. Saint Mary Magdalene did not turn back. For her and the Christian, there is only one direction, one that leads to the Cross and to everlasting life.
The Lover – Saint John the Beloved is at the privileged place of the Cross out of fidelity and love. At the Last Supper, Saint John laid his head on the breast of Jesus.[xiii] It is the beloved apostle and the youngest apostles that is the only apostle that follows Christ all the way to the Cross. Saint John is living out the theological virtues of faith and charity, which leads to hope, a “hope that does not disappoint”[xiv] even in the midst of great suffering.
MOVIE – The Passion of Christ
The clip is of the last moments of Jesus’ life on the Cross. We see Mary, Mary Magdalene and St. John present. We also see the converted Roman centurion who pierces the side of Jesus.
Has God placed us at the foot of the Cross? Why would He place us at the foot of the Cross? “Dear Brothers and Sisters, we are invited to look upon the Cross. It is the ‘privileged place’ where the love of God is revealed and shown to us.… On the Cross, human misery and divine mercy meet. The adoration of this unlimited mercy is for man the only way to open himself to the mystery which the Cross reveals.”[xv] We are familiar with the song, “Where You There When they Crucified my Lord?” Many of us may have thought once or twice, “no”. Of course we were not physically and historically standing on Calvary two thousand years ago. Yet, in a profound way we are present at the foot of the Cross. Every time we go to Mass we are there at the crucifixion. We call the Mass the Holy Sacrifice; it is re-presentation of the Sacrifice of the Jesus on the Cross. We are at the foot of the Cross along with Our Lady, Saint Mary Magdalene and Saint John each time we go to Mass. This realization can help us to have a proper attitude when participating in the Mass. Many times people want Mass to be fun.
Did Our Lady, Mary Magdalene and Saint John have fun during the Passion and Death of Jesus upon the Cross? Fun is defined as enjoyment, amusement, or lighthearted pleasure. Is the passion and death of our Lord enjoyment, amusement, or lighthearted pleasure? It is much more. Mass leads us to joy and the pleasure of life eternal. The Mass is an entering into the passion, death, and resurrection of our Lord; it is far more transcendent than amusement and more lasting than temporal pleasure.
Blessed William Joseph Chaminade founded the Society of Mary - which is also called the Marianists. The Marianists have always shown the Crucifix with Our Lady and the Beloved Apostle beneath. Part of the Marianist spirituality is to place themselves with Our Lady and Saint John at the foot of Christ. “The consummation of Jesus’ gift of self is preceded by the gift of His Mother to the Disciple and to each Marianist.” We can take a “Vow of Stability as love for Mary and alliance with her, living like the Beloved Disciple, who takes Mary “into his own” and allowing Mary to form us into the likeness of Her Son.”[xvi]
How can we place are self at the foot of the Cross? We commemorate the Passion and Death of Christ by our participation in the Sacrifice of the Mass, our observance of Fridays as obligatory days of penance in union with Christ’s sufferings, our recitation of the sorrowful mysteries of the Rosary, and making the Way of the Cross. Blessed John Paul II said that the Cross is where “human misery and divine mercy meet”. There is perhaps no better meditation on mercy and misery than in the Psalms. We can place our self at the foot of the Cross each time we pray Liturgy of the Hours, especially if we are mindful to look for misery and mercy. The Liturgy of the Hours and the Divine Liturgy (the Mass) is one Liturgy; therefore faithfulness to the Liturgy of the Hours will help us to be more attending at Divine Liturgy (the Mass) “The Psalms of David often reveal both the ugliness of humanity and his unwavering faith in God. That humanity is entwined in the divine is no more evident than in the Book of Psalms. Consider that ‘the Psalter is the basic songbook of the Liturgy.’ (GIRM, no. 102.) Therefore, our greatest prayer, the Mass, weds the human with the divine, as does the crucified Jesus. This is a notion of great beauty, considering how fragile our humanity is.”[xvii]
[i] Luke 1:46
[ii] Rite of Baptism (Blessing of Water, prayer B)
[iii] Rite of Baptism (Blessing of Water, prayer A)
[iv] Hans Urs von Balthasar
[v] Saint Francis Xavier Cabrini
[vi] Fr. John A. Hardon S.J.; Basic Catholic Catechism Course; page 22
[vii] Catechism of the Catholic Church; Section 941
[viii] Catechism of the Catholic Church; Section 1069
[ix] Matthew 22:14
[x] Fr. John A. Hardon S.J.; Modern Catholic Dictionary; page 328
[xi] Catechism of the Catholic Church; Section 1426
[xii] Rite of Baptism (Clothing with a Baptismal Garment)
[xiii] John 13:25
[xiv] Romans 5:5
[xv] Blessed John Paul II; Homily September 14, 2003
[xvi] Spirit of Saragossa; a Marianist Retreat
[xvii] Startlingly Human published 30 August 2013 by Richard J. Clark