Faith Learned, Faith Lived: Our Crosses Uplift a Great Relationship

The Year of Faith is a celebration of our calling to follow Christ and our journey to know Jesus better through our commitment, as the ACE community, in Catholic schools. We pray that we'll learn to find Jesus in the ordinary moments of our lives.

We can start by walking with Jesus in extraordinary moments of his life—as he approached his passion and death. We will hear details of those moments proclaimed from Luke's Gospel on Palm Sunday and John's Gospel on Good Friday. These details are central events in salvation history. They're a powerful way to connect to Jesus.

An ACE teacher tells the story about his first year of teaching. He had been successful throughout his life. He had a life plan that would continue to bring him success. But during senior year of college, he began thinking that it would be good to step away from his studies and do service for a year or two. He learned about ACE, applied, and was accepted to teach middle school.

He never thought he would have a problem; he had always done well in tasks he undertook. After all, how could middle school students not accept him? He was confident—until he started teaching. Soon he began to think he was a failure. He dreaded going to school every day because he just knew it would be another miserable day. This went on for a couple of months. Everyone knew there was something wrong, but he never asked for help. He was in complete denial that he was not doing well. But deep down, he did not know how he would survive.

The turning point came on the worst day of his teaching career. Everyone had left the classroom; he stood up to leave and noticed the cross on the wall. He looked at it and began to cry. He thought about how he was called to be successful and do well, and he was "a failure." He stood looking at the cross, and his mentor teacher happened to walk into the room. He was embarrassed that he was crying, but in this vulnerable state he asked, "Why has God left me alone when I needed him most?"

His mentor said to him, "Look at the cross." When she said this, the ACE teacher realized the most important lesson he would ever learn. He was being called to carry the cross with Jesus.

The cross reminds us of the greatest love ever known. The cross is the way to a deeper relationship with Jesus. It enables us to accept what is going on in our lives. Our suffering is what brings us to the foot of the cross. We need to take some time to reflect on our sufferings and see the invitation to embrace the cross.

The rest of Lent and Holy Week is our opportunity to connect our lives with the passion and death of Jesus. Let us say yes to being "there when they crucified the Lord." In doing so, may we discover "amazing grace"!