Tuesday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time
(Colossians 2:6-15; Luke 6:12-19)
The Coptic Christians in Egypt are said to be tattooed in
childhood with the sign of the cross.
The mark not only brands them for Christ among the Muslim majority, it
also reminds them of their salvation.
The reading from the Letter to the Colossians today charts
the dimensions of that salvation. Our
selfish desires are buried through our participation in the cross by means of
Baptism. Its power also raises us up to
live in the world as free men and women attracting others to Christ. Any debt that we owed because of past sins
the cross of Jesus pays in full through the blood of the cross. Finally, it subdues the powers of evil that
might allure us from the path of righteousness.
We may not want to be tattooed, but we are wise to keep an
image of the cross before us. Could
anyone claim that a Christian who lays a crucifix on her desk at work is
imposing her religion on others? Could
not a cross or crucifix be found to accommodate any decor or style of household
furnishings? Of course, the concern of
somehow offending others or even good taste is hardly what keeps us from
retaining a cross before us. The real
issue is whether we want to be dominated by the one we call “Lord” and who hung
upon the cross.
