“The crucifix is not a decoration, it is an invitation.”
I came across this quote as I was looking through an old notebook that I used to carry around with me. This was a notebook where I wrote things down that I did not want to forget. Mostly it is filled with names and numbers and to do or to buy lists. But there in the middle of that is this quote that I have no clue who said or where I heard it. All I know is that at the time it seemed important to me to write down.
Every Catholic Church in the world has at least one crucifix in the sanctuary. Some of these are indeed stunning works of art. Others may not reach the level of a masterpiece. Some of these crucifixes are very explicit, with lots of blood and a very real depiction of the destruction of Jesus’s body. Still others are cleaned up versions that are meant to remind rather than shock. Whatever the crucifix looks like, there are very few of us who would accept the invitation being offered on that cross. There are very few of us who would sign up for this level of sacrifice. Even Jesus’s closest followers could not remain with him as he gave his life for our salvation. So, while we may be able to see the crucifix as more than a decoration; most of us find it a difficult invitation to receive and even more difficult to accept.                       
            This is mostly because all we can see is the pain and the suffering. It is hard for us to look beyond the nails, beyond the blood, beyond the death to see that the crucifix has much to offer those who embrace it. We are so easily convinced that the crucifix is failure and that it is an end. We are ready to accept the cultural opinion that suffering is useless and that we can do whatever we want so long as we do not hurt anyone. Because the crucifix looks like it will hurt, we buy into a culture that tells us that pain, sacrifice, and suffering are useless.
            This however is not the truth. When we try to avoid suffering and pain, we will find ourselves stuck on a constant search for the next best remedy. Accepting the invitation of the crucifix ends our search for happiness. Embracing the crucifix reminds us that suffering does not have the last word, that death is not the end, that there is reason to hope. The crucifix of Jesus Christ is the victory of life over death, of light over darkness, of peace over chaos.
            The crucifix invites us to embrace true and lasting freedom. From the cross of Christ, we learn that true freedom is not the ability to do what we want but is instead the  opportunity to live as we ought. In the truth of the cross we come to know what is valuable, how to be holy, the meaning of love, and the power of humility. In the light of the crucifix of Christ, we learn how to fully live the gift of life, and we become free to be the saints we were created to be. Accepting the invitation that is the crucifix restores us to the dignity that was ours when God made us in his image and likeness.
            At the foot of the cross of Christ our fear is relieved. No longer do we need to be paralyzed by the fear of death. No longer need we fear being unloved. No longer do we need to fear that we are alone. Instead, Jesus on the cross reveals to us the length, breadth, and depth of God’s love for us.  What Jesus tells us, whatever we ask the Father in his name will be granted to us, he reveals in his generosity on the crucifix.
            “The Crucifix is not a decoration, it is an invitation.” Gazing upon the cross of Christ can certainly move us to gratitude but accepting the invitation to embrace the cross of Christ, to take up our crosses daily and to go where Jesus has gone can change our lives now and forever. Rather than being something to avoid, rather than being a piece of art, or a symbol of failure, the cross of Christ invites us to the fullness of truth, the fullness of life, and to eternal life. The crucifix of Christ gives us reason to hope and the ability to trust. Ultimately the crucifix of Jesus Christ invites us into his light, life, death, and resurrection so that we can be restored to paradise which is our home.