The second rock in the Path to Heaven

In Fr. Joseph Lucas's book, Hand in Hand with Our Mother, he explains that the second rock that obstructs our path to Heaven is the cross. 

The cross? But isn't the cross our way to Heaven?? Well, it depends entirely on our attitude toward it. We can use it as an excuse for failure, or as a tool for success. The stones in the photo above, in Kilkeel, County Down, Ireland, could be used as a barrier, or as a useful plank to walk, balancing carefully, over the rough spots in our path. Fr. Lucas writes:

The cross is spared no one; we all feel its heavy weight upon our shoulders...Some place it on their shoulders and struggle manfully to bear it to the end. Others balk and kick at the first sign of any burden being laid upon them....And if, generally speaking, they have fulfilled their most essential Christian duties, they believe that God is in gratitude bound to keep everything disagreeable and burdensome far from them. Then when the cross comes, as it must, their first reaction is one of astonishment and fear, which is succeeded by indignant resistance, insolent murmuring, and finally, bitter hatred. Somehow, they have gained a very wrong concept of Christian doctrine...As for the Master, so also for the disciple; as for the Mother, so also for the child. Whoever follows them must taste the sufferings of the way of the cross. Accepted in the right way, the cross is not a rock but a magnificent bridge, spanning the vastness between time and eternity.

Will we use our daily crosses as a stumbling block, and throw ourselves down beside the path in despair? Or will we be bridge-builders?

 

This amazing bridge connects Prince Edward Island to the rest of Canada. Driving over it in 2006, I didn't get a very good photo, but I found this shot at Prince Edward Island Tourism. Let us use the stones of our crosses to build that magnificent bridge over which we go to eternity!

"If you carry the cross willingly, it will carry and lead you to the desired goal."

~ Thomas a Kempis