For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. // John 3:17
We hustled silently through dark city streets. Three friends who’d spent too many late nights sipping sparkling water and pouring out our hearts in our small group now wordlessly weaved our way across cobblestone streets and past closed storefronts in the heart of Jerusalem.
It was 4:30 in the morning, and we were on our way to Calvary.
Surrounded by a sleeping city, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre never closes and the priest who was with us, who had kept vigil there throughout the night, stood waiting for us. We climbed steep stairs beside mosaics marking the final Stations of the Cross: here is where Jesus was stripped of His garments; here is where He lay on the Cross to be crucified.
Kneeling beneath the shadow of the altar, only feet away from where our beloved Savior laid down His life, we made the Sign of the Cross.
It was both a beautiful and an utterly ordinary Mass. I don’t remember the readings. (I do remember being scolded for chanting.) And although Father has an unusual gift for preaching, I couldn’t tell you about his homily. There were no flashes of lightning or fits of holy tears. Just the same magnificently humble Jesus offering His Body and Blood in the one holy sacrifice of the Mass. Just like at home.
God the Father sent His only begotten Son to save the world, and He saves me with every reception of Holy Communion. Whether in the Holy Land or at my home parish, Jesus comes. Jesus saves.
While His saving act on the Cross conquered sin and death once and for all, His saving action in our lives unfolds day by day, bit by bit, Mass after holy Mass. So don’t be discouraged if you are not as free as you want to be, if you’re not as healed as you think you should be. Just keep coming to Jesus. Keep receiving Him in the Eucharist. Keep loving Him and letting Him love you, little by little.
And just as it did two thousand years ago, His Holy Cross will triumph in you.
Beth Davis is a lover of Jesus, a retired youth minister, the Director of Formation for Blessed is She. She is passionate about teaching women how to develop an intimate relationship with Jesus in prayer through writing, speaking, and mentorship. Her favorite things include being the favorite aunt to her five niece and nephews, making friends everywhere she goes, and whatever book she’s currently reading.
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