14 September 1985
Los Angeles, Chile

My dear Brothers and Sisters in Jesus Christ,

Supposing this beautiful world of ours was destroyed by a number of nuclear bombs and after hundreds of years someone from another planet came to walk the burned surface of this earth, what would they find most frequently among the ruins? There is little doubt but that in one form or another that person would find the cross. For there are crosses of all shapes and sizes scattered all over this globe. There are crosses on our churches and on our altars. Our Bishops wear crosses. There are crosses on our vestments, in our homes, on our rosaries and in a thousand other places.

The cross holds a place of honor among us, but that was not so always. Imagine if your friend started sending you a piece of rope with a noose tied at the end of it, or that you began to see the noose of a rope in all sorts of unexpected places. You would not care for it, because it would remind you of the execution of criminals. You would consider such a sign as rather bad taste. At one time the cross was just like that. A person who was nailed to a cross was considered to be cursed by God.

Then after Our Lord had suffered on the cross and risen from the dead, Christians began to honor, not only the place of His death and resurrection but also the means by which He was put to death, namely, the cross. They built churches at the sites of Our Lord's death and resurrection, and it is the dedication of those churches more than sixteen hundred years ago that the Church is recalling today.

When St. John, who was present at Our Lord's crucifixion, saw Our Lord on the cross, he thought of some words in the Old Testament which had been written long before Our Lord was born. The words were: "They shall look on him whom they have pierced." (Zec 12:10). St. John was convinced that, if we can look in the proper way at Jesus Christ on the cross, we will not only draw strength for ourselves in all the circumstances of our lives, but it will help us to become more like Jesus Christ in thought, word and deed. Let me suggest to you three ways in which you can look at Christ on the cross. I say look, not just glance, at the cross. Many times when we look at our crucifixes, we do not look deeply into them. We see the outer appearances of the cross. We are only glancing at the cross. We are not really looking at Him Whom they have pierced.

First, there is the Mass or the celebration of the Eucharist. Our Lord Himself has guaranteed us that as often as the Mass is celebrated, there is made present for us the offering which He made to His Father as He hung on the cross. Do you wish to adore God? Then pray the Mass. Do you wish to express to God your regret for sin and to ask His mercy on yourself and on the world? Then pray the Mass. Do you want to thank God for all the good things of life? Then pray the Mass. Do you wish to ask God for good things for yourselves, your families and your friends? Then pray the Mass. For on the cross Jesus Christ did all these things. At the Mass He invites you personally to join Him in praying as He prayed on the cross.

The second way we can look at Jesus Christ on the cross is to look at the weak members of our society. If you want to honor Jesus Christ on His cross, do something for the sick or the poor or the aged or the handicapped. Do not just glance at the poor and suffering. Look at them and help them as best you can, and you will see Christ on His cross. The poor and people who are suffering do not look attractive, but then neither did Jesus Christ look attractive on the cross. Keep looking lovingly at those who have less than you have or are suffering more, and you will see Jesus Christ Whom they have pierced.

Third, in most churches of the world you will find hanging on the walls fourteen scenes from Our Lord's way to the cross. We call them the Stations of the Cross. Many artists have designed beautiful pictures for the Stations of the Cross. It is not enough to admire the art of the fourteen Stations of the Cross. The Church invites us to make the Way of the Cross, to move from one picture to the other, reflecting on the experience of Jesus as He went painfully to His crucifixion and death on the cross. Making the Way of the Cross frequently will help you to look on Jesus Whom they have pierced and through that experience to become more like Jesus Christ crucified and now risen.