The folly of the Cross part 2.

WORLD YOUTH DAY SERIES.

WORLD YOUTH DAY CROSS AND ICON.

The folly of the Cross part 2.

In my last week's post in the WYD series, the WYD challenge was to consider what your top 5 pointers to understanding the cross are. This is really important for every Catholic, but if you are a potential pilgrim to WYD in Madrid next year, you need to have spiritually personalized your understanding of the Cross, otherwise you will not appreciate the journey of the Cross nor will you be inclined to to venerate it.

Last week I highlighted 5 pointers from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. In today's post, let us turn to the following Scripture from 1 Corinthians to see what it says about the Cross since it provides us with food for reflection.

" For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, 

lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. 

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, 

but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 

For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, 

and the cleverness of the clever I will thwart."

Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? 

Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, 

it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.

For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 

but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 

but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, 

Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, 

and the weakness of God is stronger than men."

(I Cor 1:17-25) 

So I encourage you to continue to reflect upon the cross at every opportunity from now until WYD (and beyond of course) with God's help, develop your 5 top pointers, so that when you venerate the Cross at WYD, you will receive the many blessings God has in store for you and enjoy a very personal encounter with Christ.

The other ongoing WYD spiritual preparation challenge is to follow the journey of the Cross as it travels for the 12 months leading up to WYD.  I have to admit that on my first WYD to Rome, I was not aware of the journey of the Cross, so it did not feature as much in my WYD experience.  

However, when I went to WYD in Sydney in my own country, the spiritual and social preparation for the journey of the Cross was amazing.  I encourage you to follow the journey of the Cross and to pray daily for those people who will encounter it. They are your brothers and sisters in Christ and they need your prayerful support as they encounter Christ. 

I located a map of Australia and explored the route being taken. I made a big poster so that I could visually see and draw the route as it journeyed around  our 'Great Southland of the Holy Spirit'. It does wonders for  increasing one's general knowledge, as well as it became easier to follow the route at a spiritual level.  

The other beautiful aspect of the journey of the Cross is that not only Catholics and potential WYD pilgrims are involved, but many other Christians and other curious bystanders who come to see the Cross pass through their town. Many are touched by Christ in this experience.

I can tell you from my experience that there is nothing so spiritually uplifting to see the Cross being carried into the opening ceremony at the start of WYD where it  finally came to rest.

So if you have not started following the journey of the Cross, it is not too late to start.  

I am not attending physically WYD, but I am following the journey. I am hoping that you who are reading my WYD series and/or read my blog will say a prayer for me at the Cross at WYD in Madrid in 2011.

Start today and make your journey of the Cross a prayerful personal encounter with Christ.

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