A recognizable sign of a Christian: love of crisis

There are often paintings of “all the saints” in churches. Painters usually solve the problem of the subject of some parity. There is a holy pope, one bishop, one king, one virgin, etc. Albrecht Dürer, however, intended not only to express the multitude of saints but for all that this union binds together. Therefore, he painted how all these diverse people lookups where God the Father is holding Christ on the cross. Nice, the mystery of Christian holiness is expressed here. It is love to God. However, its hallmark is love for the cross.

The letter of the Apostle Paul to the Galatians could be called by defending the cross of Christ. Moses’ law taught the people to discern what is good and evil, but evil has not prevailed. Only the cross of Christ won by sin. Therefore, it is necessary to grasp this cross by faith, baptism, denial. Wed I am through the law he died to the law, that I might live unto God. With Christ, I am nailed to the cross (Gal 2:19). The letter ends with a glorious one praise of the cross: But I do not want to brag about anything else, just the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world is crucified for me and me for the world (Gal 6:14). It is, therefore, a cross needed by a Jew; it is a supplement to the Law, the culmination of a revelation.

This revelation, originally given only to the chosen nation, then penetrates the whole world through the cross. In the letters of captivity, which are addressed to the Gentiles, they build a set. Paul’s cross is a symbol of peace in a world that is divided and hated. The office of mediator of peace belongs to the Church because it stands the cross of Christ, and from him, Christ reconciles with the Father the whole world, the cosmos. The shackles they wear are a symbol of Paul’s that this great work is already beginning to penetrate the world. That, truly, cross, yet he hates it, resists it, is foolishness to him. Because the word The cross is foolishness for those who perish, but for of those who are on the path of salvation, that is, for us, is the power of God (1 Cor 1:18).

The perfection of a Christian is therefore unthinkable without a cross.
Christ became the new Adam by his death and was born to us for the new world with his blood (Rom. 5). Christ’s death is “enforced” in every Christian to be in God’s life (Romans 6). Those who see nothing but the earth are, of course, the enemies of the cross. For the Jews also ask for change, and the Greeks seek wisdom, but we declare it of the crucified Christ, for the Jews a stumbling block, for the Gentiles folly, but for those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ – God’s power and God’s wisdom. For what is with God “Crazy,” is wiser than men, and what is “weak” with God is stronger than men (1 Cor 1: 22-25). 
A positive value of the cross. So, the more one penetrates the mystery of the Christian of life and perfection, the more he begins to understand the positive to the cross’s positive value. He realizes that without him, he would not have progressed. It begins to penetrate the meaning of the statements made earlier read but did not understand, such as we know the words with  Theresa of Great: “Either suffer or die!” What a sense it should prolong life on earth and not continue in perfection, not to develop eternal life? This then happens to cross, as the book Following the Christ writes with enthusiasm in the chapter entitled On the Royal Way of St. of the cross: «He who cannot understand the heavenly things, only he who is
he succumbed to endure adversity for Christ. And God is not anything more pleasant, nothing more saving to you in this world, than willingly suffer for Christ. And if you could choose, you should rather want to suffer adversity for Christ than enjoy many pleasures because you would be more like that of Christ and all the saints. »

The inner and penetrating understanding of the cross is gained through life and grace. It is difficult to write about this subject. Nevertheless, Cornelius and Lapide tried in the interpretation of the Letter of St. James (Chapter 1, v. 2) to summarize the reasons which the Fathers of the Church give to prove that we have to rejoice in afflictions and difficulties. Calculates four:
1. The difficulties and adversities of us, according to St. Johannes Chrysostomus, wakes him up from his numbness and lack of interest in religious things. He who has been too good for a long time forgets God, feels well in the world. That is, he does not desire another better. Not even does he not want to be better; what he has is enough for him. Thus, of course, it goes down with him with water without being careful. However, if he encounters difficulties, he suddenly feels unhappy, he realizes his weakness, he learns from experience that he doesn’t have nearly as much strength and virtue as he thought. 
2. St. Johannes Chrysostomus also gives the second reason why I should enjoy difficulties and persecution. They are a sign that we are called to salvation and that we are sons of God. The world in us begins to know the image of Christ and therefore begins to treat us the way he treated him.
3. A similar reason is given by St. Ephraim in his praise to the cross. The Christian life is to be like Christ, in his footsteps. What else can bring us closer to the Crucified than the cross?
4. The monk Antioch us, who in the 7th century began to take notes for the spiritual life from the homilies of the Fathers, indicates the fourth the reason we should be happy for us trouble met. It protects us from our two greatest enemies: sin and passion. Laziness and prosperity lead to all minerals. The man whose they pursue life accidents, they do not think easily of vanity, they do not kill precious time by laziness.