[caption id="attachment_1404" align="alignright" width="200"]As Holy Week begins, Christians ponder the meaning of the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus. Over the years, we heard the explanations that Jesus died to redeem us for the sin of Adam against God and our own subsequent sins. Denial through fasting and penance were the usual recommendations on ways to prepare ourselves for the Easter Resurrection of Jesus. But the words of Edward Hays bring a different expression to the fact that the "the cross symbolizes the deep profound cost of authentic loving and the sign of willingness to go to extreme limits of genuine true affection and faithfulness." The Great Valentine's Day message to each of us might be to recognize the presence of God in the poor, the sick, the marginalized and victimized. It may mean to do dramatic "dying on the cross actions" as "gigantic acts of love." Jesus spoke the simple words "love on another as I have loved you." This directive might mean more than not eating meat on Fridays and giving gifts of chocolate eggs and Easter lilies. "The cross is the ultimate sign of a love that knows no end."Blog by Associate Conni Dubick, OPA[/caption] "Good Friday is the Great Valentine's Day! Believers and unbelievers need to see the cross with all its suffering, pain and death not as a sacrifice-payment to redeem humanity from the punishment of sins, but rather as a cosmically gigantic act of love. " - Rev. Edward Hays
