The Risen Christ

The Living Jesus

St Louis of France Church

La Puente CA

Traditions Bring Reflection

Yesterday I attended a quinceneara with my wife for her cousins daughter. For those of you not familiar with this custom in Hispanic culture it is a coming out party for a fifteen year-old daughter and it is a customary to have a Mass and then a party afterwards.  These typically are quite elaborate events with the daughter having a court of her male and female friends that precede her in coming in the church and the daughter then is escorted by her parents to the altar. The parties that follow sometimes run into over ten thousand dollars, with bands of mariachis or even famous people. This one fortunately was not one of those. All this being said, my focus is not on the beautiful ceremony, but on the crucifix above the altar.

Viewing Jesus on the Cross

I am quite used to seeing the Jesus on the cross with his head bowed in death. This is a quite typical scene in churches in the United States, at least the one's I have attended.  However, this church in the Los Angeles area displayed a Jesus that had me awestruck (see the title picture). This Jesus was robust in body and was alive on the cross. His arms extended with life, his face was full of vibrancy. This was not the Jesus that I was accustomed to encountering in church.

Needless to say this got me thinking. What was my view of Jesus when I am in Mass. In my typical manner it is sorrowful. My savior on the cross, his body and spirit broken from the beatings and insults bearing my sins and the sins of the world. Sometimes I am ashamed to even peer at the cross for I wallow in my sinfulness.

The Risen Jesus

This cross displayed in St Louis of France church brings on a whole different meaning. The background of the crucifix is a bright blue and white. Jesus seems to leaping from the cross as if to be saying, "Look, I am alive!" Yes, He is alive in the eucharist, in the word, and in the people assembled before him.

In reflection I came to these conclusions.  Jesus is prompting those in attendance to be alive as well. He is asking us to become fully engaged in the Mass, singing, praising, and carrying the message to those seated next to us by reaching out during the Our Father and grasping the hands of others, to extend hour hands to our neighbors during the proclamation of peace and joyfully exclaim, "Peace be with you!" When the celebrant concludes the Mass with the dismissal, we are prompted to "Go in peace and glorify the Lord"  or "Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord, " Jesus wants us to be alive, renewed, not just rush out of church to our vehicles, to the coffee and donuts, to the sporting event on television and carrying on our secular life. He wants us to have that spring of energy that promotes his fullness and resurrection that bring life to all.

So maybe the next time you go into Mass, take a look at the cross and see a Jesus that died for our sins, but also conjure up the Jesus that I saw yesterday.