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stumbling block, but for those who believe in Jesus, the Cross is
God’s wisdom, God’s power and strength. It is the revelation of
God’s glory and continues to be the hope of salvation. Therefore,
as we proclaim the Christ crucified, we are invited to be part of a
new vision for life.

The Cross teaches us the innate and intrinsic value of
relationships. The Cross questions and critiques our relations
with God, with all God’s people and with God’s world. Jesus’
words from the Cross, “Father, forgive them; for they do not
know what they are doing”(Luke 23:34), “Truly I tell you, today
you will be with me in paradise.”(Luke 23:43) call us to re-think,
re-define and re-claim our relationships. The Cross expresses an
unquenchable thrust toward bridging, re-molding and building
relationships. It calls us to enter into deeper, meaningful and
strong relationships that may re-create the creational harmony.
It is not a simple call to right relationship with nice, good people
and the environment;the Cross calls us to build bridges of
reconciliation and enter into right relationships with the world
that is revolts against, rejects and denies all relations. The Cross
is a challenge to build bridges with those who turn faces away,
those who hate to the core and conspire to exclude, eliminate and
destroy, those who spit and mock, those who renounce, damn
and reprove. The Cross is a call and challenge to re-interpret,
re-invent, re-live life-affirming relationships amid violent death
forces that threaten to destroy and kill.

The Cross challenges us to be faithful and diligent in all
the responsibilities entrusted to us:“Woman, here is your son.”
“Here is your mother.” (John 19:26-27). The Cross does not
allow us to run away from our responsibilities, it is not a path of
escapism. The burden of family responsibility weighed heavily
upon him. People always teased him that he was a hermit with
no sense of family responsibility. They even ridiculed him saying
that he had lost his mind. And when he joined the tax collectors

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Lenten Meditations Re - Imaging People