"When I Survey the Wondrous Cross"

On this Friday of Lent, no matter where we are – whether Rome or Fond du Lac, WI – perhaps the best thing we could do is take a few moments to silence the rat race of our hearts and ask the Lord for forgiveness for the ways we have fallen short of our call to be true disciples and witnesses of Christ.

He is rich in mercy, and promises today through the prophet Ezekiel in our first reading at Mass, that "if the wicked, turning from the wickedness he has committed, does what is right and just, he shall preserve his life; since he has turned away from all the sins that he committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die." (Ezek 18:27-28)

One of my favorite hymns, here sung by the Choir of King's College, Cambridge, provides a beautiful meditation on the healing power of the Cross, if we will only open our hearts to receive the grace poured out for us there. Below are the lyrics to this hymn, and a photo of the tomb of the Apostles Philip and James the Lesser – two men whose lives were changed forever by their encounter with Jesus Christ, and who are buried in the crypt of today's Station Church.

When I survey the wondrous cross

On which the Prince of glory died,

My richest gain I count but loss,

And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,

Save in the death of Christ my God!

All the vain things that charm me most,

I sacrifice them to His blood.

See from His head, His hands, His feet,

Sorrow and love flow mingled down!

Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,

Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

His dying crimson, like a robe,

Spreads o’er His body on the tree;

Then I am dead to all the globe,

And all the globe is dead to me.

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.