Worldly Illusions about the Cross, Sermon by Fr. Paul Robinson, SSPX

Tomorrow and the next day, we have two special feast days: the Exaltation of the Holy Cross and Our Lady of Sorrows. Both of these feast days are celebrations of the triumph that comes through the Cross. It was through the Cross that Our Lord redeemed the human race. It was by standing at the foot of the Cross and offering her Son that Our Lady became the Co-Redemptrix of the human race and Mediatrix of All Graces.As Catholics, we celebrate these feast days because we believe in what they represent for Our Lord and Our Lady, and also what they represent for us. What do they teach us? That the good bearing of the Cross in this life is what makes for heavenly glory in the life to come.We have these feasts to represent this to us, and we place crucifixes everywhere to remind us that victory comes from the Cross. At the same time, however, we have trouble believing it.Catechism of Trent: “if one thing more than another presents difficulty to the mind and understanding of man, assuredly it is the mystery of the cross, which, beyond all doubt, must be considered the most difficult of all; so much so that only with great difficulty can we grasp the fact that our salvation depends on the cross”.This is harder for us to understand than the Trinity, harder to understand than the mystery of the Eucharist: that our salvation depends on the Cross. Do you understand this?Do you believe that your salvation depends on the way in which you bear suffering in this life? Do you have a supernatural attitude toward suffering, or a worldly attitude toward it?This one thing must divide us from the people in the world, if we are truly followers of Our Lord Jesus Christ: we must have the capacity of carrying our daily crosses.If so many people in this world find the doctrine of the Cross so difficult to understand, it is often because of two illusions that they hold in their minds, illusions that come from the world.