May I never boast save in the cross of our Lord Jesus
Christ[1]. This is quite
a change. St. Paul is speaking positively about boasting. I thought boasting
was bad. I thought we were never
supposed to boast. I mean, I know that
last year I was conceited and that this year I’m perfect, but I also know that it
is wrong to boast about it. Is there ever a time when boasting is OK, even
good? Well, boasting is certainly bad when it is the self-centered, egomaniacal
ranting of a tortured soul who bases his or her value on the opinions of
others. But boasting is not bad when it reflects its original meaning of
rejoicing in something that is good[2].
St. Paul had
reason to boast. And it was not over what he did for the Lord. Paul was a
little powerhouse who brought the Gospel of Jesus Christ to tens of thousands
of people throughout the Roman Empire.
But Paul would not boast in this, or in anything he did. He would not rejoice
in his accomplishments. But Paul did boast. He boasted in the Cross of Jesus
Christ. He rejoiced that Jesus Christ died for him. He rejoiced that because of
the cross, he was a new creation. He rejoiced, boasted, in the cross of the
Lord Jesus Christ.
And we join St.
Paul and rejoice in the cross of Jesus Christ. We boast with Paul that we have
been saved from sin, saved from a meaningless, empty life, saved from running
towards nothing, saved from being an insignificant blip on the radar of
humanity. We join Paul in rejoicing that we have become a New Creation. Actually,
what does that mean new creation? Well,
that means exactly what it sounds like. We have become new beings. We are not
just physical. Due to the cross of Jesus Christ, we are spiritual. We have
received His Life within us. We can live forever if we live in Him. We rejoice
that we are not of this world. We are
holy. We are set apart for God. That is
what it means to be holy.
Our God wants
us. Our God loves us. Our God empowers us. Our God is with us. We belong to
Him. We are so united to Him that we are united to His sacrificial love on the
cross. And we rejoice in this union with Jesus. We boast in the cross of Our
Lord Jesus Christ.
We have been
branded by Christ. The cattlemen of the Old West would brand their steer to
declare their ownership. We have been branded by Christ. He has declared His
ownership of us. We have been branded with the Cross. Paul says that he bore in
his body the marks of Jesus Christ[3]. What
Paul is referring to is this: he bore the ownership of Christ in His Life. He
lived the sacrificial love of the Cross. He lived for the kingdom, suffered for
the Kingdom and would die for the Kingdom.
The only thing that Paul would boast about is the love of Jesus Christ,
the sacrificial love of the Lord, the Cross.
We also bear on
our bodies the marks of Jesus Christ. We have been branded by the Lord. That
brand is our sharing in His sacrificial love. We boast in the Cross of the
Lord. We find joy in sharing the sacrificial love of the Lord. So we are mocked
for not joining immorality, we are kept down in work or school for not seeking
advancement by stepping on others. It hurts when people laugh at us for being
committed Catholics. But we still rejoice. We rejoice in the opportunities we
have to love as Jesus loved. We boast in the cross of the Lord.
We rejoice in
that we can be Christ for others. St. Teresa of Avila wrote:
Christ has no
body but yours,
No hands, no
feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the
eyes with which he looks
Compassion on
this world,
Yours are the
feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the
hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the
hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the
eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no
body now but yours,
No hands, no
feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the
eyes with which he looks with compassion on this world.
Christ has no
body now on earth but yours[4].
How great is
that! We are a new creation, we are Christ for others. We are Christians. We
are Catholics. It is as Catholics that we receive the strength to boast in the
Cross, the strength to bear the wounds of the Lord.
Isaiah, the
great prophet said: Rejoice in the Lord,
Jerusalem and then uses the imagery of the people nursing at a mother’s
abundant breasts. This is a prophesy of the Catholic Church. The Church is our
mother, feeding us, sustaining us. It is through the Church that we receive the
sacraments. It is through the Church that we receive the Word. It is through
the Church that we serve Christ’s Presence in the poor and suffering of the
world. And there is plenty to go around. Mother Church’s breasts are abundant.
We receive communion weekly, if not daily. We need the Eucharist to be able to
boast in the Lord. We receive penance regularly; we need the sacrament of
compassion to fend off the attacks of the devil. And so we rejoice. We rejoice
with 72 who felt the power of God working through them. We join them on their
return to the Lord, loud, yelling their joy.
We join Jesus in yelling right along with them, along with us. And so we
boast in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
For through the Cross we have become a new creation ■
[1] Galatians 6:14.
[3] It is tempting to dismiss this
as referring to Paul having the stigmata. There is no record of this. Other
Christians would have spoken about Paul bleeding from his hands and feet and side
as St. Francis, St. Padre Pio and so many others would do.
[4] Teresa of Ávila, also called
Saint Teresa of Jesus, baptized as Teresa Sánchez de Cepeda y Ahumada, (March
28, 1515 – October 4, 1582) was a prominent Spanish mystic, Roman Catholic
saint, Carmelite nun, writer of the Counter Reformation, and theologian of
contemplative life through mental prayer. She was a reformer of the Carmelite
Order and is considered to be a founder of the Discalced Carmelites along with
John of the Cross.
