Through Christ, God made the entire universe
to be at peace with him again. And this made it possible
through the death of his Son on the cross.
Colossians 1:20
In my teenage years, I had the traumatic experience of being the object of an assault. Three young men approached me and forcibly took from me a gold chain with a cross on it. I remember that feeling of loss; that cross had great sentimental significance because my mother had given it to me as a gift.
The Larousse dictionary defines the word emblem as a figure, attribute, being or concrete objects destined to symbolize an abstract notion, or to represent a collectivity, a character, etc. Now, we could ask ourselves: How has the cross, being an instrument of death and destruction, become an emblem of Christ's redemptive sacrifice for humanity? What spiritual benefits does the believer experience as a result of the voluntary surrender of our Lord Jesus Christ to death on the cross?
The cross is the high price that Christ had to pay for our redemption. This price represents the beginning of a reorientation in the way the believer faces his life in relation to himself and to others. Death on the cross not only has a transforming effect on the lives of individuals but also on the powers and authorities of a decadent world opposed to the principles of love and justice. Through the cross the believer dies to a way of life that is simply guided by his or her particular interests. Through faith in the death of Jesus Christ, the believer is freed from having to pay for his/her sins. True faith, that of real commitment to God, frees us from the punishment we should receive.
Rev. Norberto Domínguez Rodríguez
Vice President for Religious Affairs
Interamerican University of Puerto Rico