“If any want to become my followers,
let them deny themselves and take up their
cross daily and follow me.”
Luke 9:23
How can God permit human suffering? It is a question we all ask—a timeless riddle that prods our constant search for the truth. The answer, Christians believe, lies in the mystery of the Cross of Jesus Christ. The Way to Eternal Life: Contemporary Reflections on the Traditional Stations of the Cross, my new book published by Abbey Press' Path of Life Publications, is an extended meditation on that mystery. (Click the image above for purchase information).
The Cross disturbs many; suffering and sin are realities we’d rather not think about. However, viewed through the eyes of faith, it offers us not an escape from our troubles, but a means by which the unholy is sanctified and death is transformed into sure and certain life through the Resurrection. The way to Eternal Life is through the Cross, and to be effective, it requires our cooperation—the loving gift of self in response to God’s love for us. God desires to involve us in his merciful act of redemption.
Each Station in The Way to Eternal Life offers avenues of reflection connecting the Cross of Christ with our own. Steeped in the Word of God, each reflection is complemented with the striking 1950s artwork of Fr. Donald Walpole, O.S.B. (+January 2012), and is accompanied by a prayer. Together, they are meant to draw the reader deeper into his or her own understanding of the mystery of the Cross.
The Cross of Jesus Christ is our story, too, and his story is ours. It’s why “the Word became flesh and lived among us” (John 1:14). This is Good News intended to give us hope along the way to eternal life.
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