Fix your eyes on Christ

As we reach the end of Lent and Holy Week draws near, it is time to reflect on what has become of the invitation made to us on Ash Wednesday: “repent and believe in the Gospel.” The Lenten practices of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving have accompanied us on our journey toward the celebration of the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Christ, and now, in this final week of Lent—the Week of the Passion—they invite us to lift our gaze and fix our eyes on the cross of Christ.

The lives of the saints bear witness that there is no better school of faith than kneeling before the cross of Christ. God transforms an instrument of torture into a classroom of wisdom. Contemplation of the cross is the best path to holiness: only there does one learn to love to the very end, to forgive without limits, to serve without reserve… in short, to be true disciples of Christ. Each day of this great week for Christians is an invitation to conform one’s life to that of the crucified Christ, living the Gospel with humility, especially at the existential crossroads of life.

Holy Week, now approaching, urges us to place the cross of Christ at the center of our lives so that, as Pope Leo XIV has reminded us, our faith may regain its momentum and our hearts may not be scattered among passing concerns. There is no time to lose: fix your eyes on the cross of Christ and learn from it how to live as a disciple. Let the cross of Christ not be merely an ornament on your chest or a procession in the street, but a path that guides your steps, a strength that sustains you, and a horizon that gives meaning to your hope.

Fr. Pepe Orozco, CM