The Cross and Veritas

There is a very close link between the Cross and Veritas (Truth) - the motto of the Dominican Order. “The Cross verifies the truth about God and the truth about humankind”- (Pope Benedict)
The truth about God: When we look at the Cross we are left in no doubt of God’s infinite love – the Cross is the epiphany of God's infinite love for us sinful creatures - at the very moment when we are turned away from Him and lost in our own selfishness He turned as it were against himself in order to raise us up and save us. This is how God loves.
The truth about humans: the Cross reveals the dignity of every person – how precious we are in God’s sight that He should die for us!

But the Cross does not rob us of joy – the contrary is true as we sing in the liturgy: “through the Cross joy has come into the whole world” and with it freedom. Jesus has taken the burden of our sin on Himself and has already achieved our eternal salvation. Our task lies not in anxious striving to achieve our own perfection but in opening ourselves to receive the gift. “At the very moment when he identifies with our sin, ‘abandoned’ by the Father, Jesus ‘abandons’ himself into the hands of the Father”.(Pope John Paul II, Novo Millennio Ineunte 26). We in our turn can abandon ourselves and those we carry in our hearts to the loving mercy of our God in the sure hope that “all will be well”.