Good Friday and Embracing Our Cross

If you've read this blog for, oh, maybe 5 minutes, you know that I am a Saint John Paul II devotee.  He was a Godly, good, powerful man.  He helped bring down communism.  Bravely survived Nazism.  He was an athlete of whom you've probably seen photos skiing or kayaking.  He seemed larger than life.

Ten years ago on Good Friday, my favorite photo of Pope John Paul II was taken.

Photo via Pinterest

It shows not only a powerful Pope holding a crucifix, but a child of God, embracing his cross.

During his earthly life, Pope John Paul II greatly suffered.  He lost his mother at a young age.  Then, his brother.  He lost many friends during the Holocaust.  There were two men that attempted to take his life during his time as Pope.  And then, came Parkinson's disease, that eventually succeeded in doing what those two men could not.  And yet through the struggle and the pain, he remained faithful.
He must have understood that which is so hard for us to comprehend....sometimes, maybe oftentimes, God uses suffering to draw us closer to him, to make us more holy.

As we remember the events of the first Good Friday, as we recall Jesus embracing his own cross as he carried it up the hill, as the nails were drilled into its wood, and was it was risen into the sky, let's remember the importance and value of embracing our own cross.  Whatever that may be.

And when Sunday comes and we celebrate the Savior who defeated the cross, let us remember that our suffering, our cross, is only temporary.  And that the reason we have that assurance and hope is that Jesus willingly embraced his cross all those years ago.

Wishing you all a blessed Good Friday and a joyous Easter!