Holy Father Pope Francis while addressing the faithful on the day of the Feast of Exaltation of the Cross, in the Casa Santa Marta conveyed the Cross of Christ as the mystery of love and warned against two spiritual temptations related to it. His Holiness explained that the first temptation is to think Christ without a Cross or to reduce him a spiritual teacher and the second temptation is to think of a Cross without Christ or to remove all hope in a type of spiritual masochism.
As reported by Vatican radio, Holy Father Pope Francis remarked that “The Cross without a Christ would be a mystery of tragedy, like a pagan tragedy, the Cross is a mystery of love; the Cross is faithful; the Cross is noble.” Further, His Holiness added, “We should take a minute to ask ourselves these questions: Is Christ crucified a mystery of love? Do I follow Jesus without a Cross: a spiritual teacher who fills me with consolation and good counsel? Do I follow a cross without Jesus, without complaining, with this masochism of the spirit? Do I let myself be carried by this mystery of lowering, that is, of total emptying and lifting up of the Lord?”
His Holiness concluded his homily with the wish that the Lord grant His grace, not just to understand, but to enter into the mystery of love with the heart, mind and body.
