Portals of life
09/16/2018
Portals of life
Fr. Al Demos, September 16, 2018
We pass through many portals in our life – from conception and birth, to old age and death. We pass portals of learning, experiencing, knowledge, wisdom, love, caring, loss, sorrow, victory, and elation. We pass through portals of joy, despair, upset, failure, achievement and success. But it is that final portal is the most important.
Portals are entrances as well as exits. Thus we pass from one experience to another, and often through several at the same time. Portals are usually built of wood, and that is an important fact to remember. Why? Because the final portal is also made of wood…the wood of a tree…shaped in the form of a Cross!
The wood of the cross it is the portal to Heaven; yes, the cross on which Christ died brings us to eternal salvation! It is the symbol of the Cross that we always hold before us. All Christian Churches have the cross as a symbol of their faith; they wear a cross around their necks; it is the sign they make over their bodies in receiving a blessing from God; crosses are found on the walls of Churches, as well as on the sacred books and Bibles. The Holy Cross is ever present in our lives to remind us of the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ and His love for all of humanity.
So as we pass through each portal of our life we must ever keep in mind the wood of the Cross of Christ. Not only is the cross a symbol of Christ’s sacrifice for our salvation, but it is a source of strength for us in moments of doubt, of fear, of apprehension, of anxiety, of uncertainness. The Cross symbolizes God’s profound love for His creation; as well as God’s deep desire to bring us all to salvation in His Holy Kingdom. It is our symbol of hope, faith and expectation!
What a wondrous gift life is! If we can only comprehend that this gift of life is given to us by our magnanimous and wondrous God, completely in His Divine love for us! An old Christian Hymn, “The Old Rugged Cross” says it all, “I will cherish the old rugged Cross ‘til at last all my trophies I lay down. I will cling to the old rugged Cross, and exchange it one day for a crown!”