Today, our Lord, nailed to the Cross, his arms outstretched between heaven and earth, becomes the lasting sign of reconciliation between God and us. The Gospels narrate that when he cried out in a loud voice and gave up his spirit, the curtain of the Temple was torn into two from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51, Mark 15:38, Luke 23:45). This tearing of the curtain symbolizes that the barrier separating us from God has been torn down. Christ crucified becomes a bridge, a passageway for us to the Living God. By his death on the Cross, he establishes a new covenant between God and us, an everlasting covenant since he will never die again. Therefore, the bridge he establishes in his death on the Cross will never be broken. The path he makes for us is eternal.
From the Cross, he says to his Father, “Forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” (Luke 23:34). In him, we find the forgiveness for our sins, since it is to take away our sins that he freely submitted to death on the Cross. Therefore, in him we have found freedom. We are no longer slaves to the devil or the powers of this world, or to our natural inclinations to sin. Even death itself has been transformed in Christ’s death. His death has made our death a passing from a life of slavery to a life of glory. Now, we are no longer merely children of this world, but also of God, sons and daughters of the Most High.
From the Cross, he gives us Mary to be our Mother, to be the Mother of all his beloved disciples (John 19:26-27). How loving of Jesus to share his Mother with us. Now, we too can partake in the pure love he receives from her. We can receive her lessons of humility, joy, perseverance, interior peace, devotion, and total openness to God’s will. In her, we all have a Mother, who attends to our necessities and understands our every need.
From the Cross, he gives up his Spirit. Jesus’ Spirit does not die, rather, he gives it to his Church. As the people of the New Covenant in Christ's blood, we are marked by God’s Spirit. Because of his Spirit, he is in us, and we are in him.
Finally, from the Cross, he pours out water and blood. When the soldier pierces his heart, the water thus flowing from his side becomes the wellspring of new life in Baptism, and his blood is spiritual food given to us as the Eucharist, which makes the Church.
Thereby, from the Cross, the life of Christ becomes now our life, or should be our life. The Cross joins our life with his and vice versa. To us he belongs, to him we belong. So, we can ask ourselves as such: What does this belonging to Christ look like in my life? What shows this belonging? How do I live this belonging to Christ? There is only one answer – Committed Love. This is the message of the Cross: to love to the end as he loves us.