THE COST OF TRUE LOVE: THE CROSS!
Last Sunday, November 7th in the afternoon, I decided to just take a drive out into the Arizona desert to get a breath of fresh air after a very busy two weeks. In the silence and marvel of that most beautiful of Arizona’s sceneries where I stood, I had one of the most relaxing and exhilarating experiences which I have not had in a long time. I wished I could bask in the moment forever. However, in the euphoria of that moment, I was suddenly jolted back into reality. What kept coming back to my mind over and over again in that reality was informed the title of this article, namely The Cost of True Love: The Cross! This was triggered by a very troubling story one young lady shared with me about the struggle she was going through in her love life and needed my guidance. She shared with me that she was forced into a loveless traditional marriage with a man she did not love and never will. From this marriage they had a child and after three year of marriage, they ended it. It has now been six years since their separation. Seeing no future in that relationship, a year ago, she reconnected with the true love of her life from childhood whom she had always loved and wanted to marry but was prevented from doing so. Their love for each other never diminished over the fifteen years of separation. They are now even more madly in love and planning to get married. Suddenly, after six years of silence and total breakdown in communication, her husband of traditional marriage has begun communicating and expressing interest to reunite. He now calls twice or three times a day. The families of the young lady and of her husband are also, all of a sudden, putting pressure on her to return to the man she never loved and who abandoned her for six years. Their reason? For the sake of their child and the name of their family! She is reluctant to return arguing that doing so serves only her family’s happiness but would render her miserable for the rest of her life. On the other hand, marrying the man she dearly loves but whom the family did not approve will make her happy but will alienate her from her family which she also sees as painful. In short, she is in a terrible dilemma! Without going into the details of my counsel to her, I essentially told her to pray over it but ultimately go with what her heart is telling her and reminded her that true love has a cost!
This episode brought to my consciousness the cross as the ultimate price that the Lord Jesus had to pay for our own salvation. His love for us cost him his own life on the cross! Reflecting on the life of and dilemma of this young lady and on our lives individually, we all have our own different crosses to carry daily. It could come through a similar example of this young lady whose story I have shared above to which some of you might relate or in order areas of your life where you are to make a fundamental choice. Regardless of which form it comes in, the deeper the love we have, the more challenging and sacrificial this cross becomes. With true love, however, you will come to realize that a couple of years to come what you are stressing about now will not really matter. For this reason, we need to be reminded of the cost of real love repeatedly in order to keep our focus in the right place and never shift our gaze from the cross especially during difficult times so as to keep moving forward and make right decisions.
These are some of the thoughts which made it urgent, as soon as I became your pastor, to install both the tabernacle and the cross at the place of prominence in our sanctuary. The cross and the tabernacle remind us not only of the paschal mystery but also of the victory of Christ over death. Therefore, as we enter our Church today, our attention is at once now drawn to the tabernacle and the cross above it. To enhance this radical paradigm shift of attention, we have also now added the image of our Mother Mary at the foot of the cross as a reminder that through her, no cross is insurmountable. She always effectively leads us to her son and will always stand by us no matter what our circumstances may be. The image of St. John at the foot of the cross with Mother Mary is an invitation for all of us not only to be close to the suffering Christ but also to carry our own crosses daily and follow him. The image of the Good Shepherd between the cross and the tabernacle represent the tenderness and mercy of our compassionate Lord who receives us the way we are in our sinfulness every time we enter our beautiful Church.
Since the painting of these images in our sanctuary, many of you have come to thank me and appreciate the sense of reverence and Catholic identity these have brought to our Church. However, I would also like to thank you all because without your generosity and support, we would not have been able to do these. We are in this all together! We still have many more things to do, let us continue to work together to develop and maintain our parish. St. Andrew can become only as good as the quality of our love and the cross. Therefore, I appeal to all of you that these improvements in our Church may truly lead you closer to Christ who is present in the Eucharist, through taking our crosses daily and following him and always bearing in mind that the cost of true love is the Cross!
St. Andrew, I love you!
The Good News Newsletter is out!
THIS Saturday, November 13th
at 6:30pm - 7:45pm in the Church
Join just for a YAWAY event with special guest
Michael Villanueva, who will be speaking into your hearts about the value and worth of who you are regardless of where you are in life.
There will be Eucharistic Adoration
Starting THIS weekend
Saturday, November 13th-Sunday, November 28th
bins will be in the Narthex
THIS Sunday, November 14th
7am-1pm in the Hall
Have you moved? Changed your phone number?
Please contact Mary at Finance@standrewchandler.com
To update your information
Public Masses are now offered
Monday - Saturday | 8:30am
Wednesday | 6:30pm
Saturday | 5:00pm
Sunday | 7:00am, 10:00am, 2:00pm
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Thank you for your Generosity!