The Anatomy of a Cruciform Worldview

Something distinct in St. Peter’s first Epistle lays the groundwork for developing a worldview of faith. He reminds his fellow brethren that Christ suffered in the flesh, and this tells them to arm themselves with the same thought, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin.[1] It is important to understand that the humanity of Christ dies, but not his Divinity. From a human perspective, we may unintentionally see the entire Paschal Sequence of events as a finality to Christ and what he endured on the Cross. Somehow, this thought process leads many to separate the reality of Jesus’ crucifixion from the reality of the institution of the Holy Eucharist and its celebration, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.  

A central point of St. Peter’s message to his fellow brethren is his insistence to actively depart from the immoral and unethical propositions of the world and instead turn toward Christ and the way of life he left for them to embrace and live. It is important to consider that Jesus died to preach to everyone, both the living and the dead, that there is still an opportunity to live in the Spirit of God through the Son. Another important point in St. Peter’s discourse is the reality of the Incarnation, Christ was both fully human and fully divine, and freely chose to die a human death so that our human nature could turn toward the Divine Nature of God the Father through the Son. While Jesus’ Divinity remains as I previously stated, his human nature ceased. This is where we, as children of God the Father and disciples of Jesus Christ, led by the Holy Spirit, are to begin the transformation of our view of the world through a cruciform lens.

What I mean by a cruciform lens is that the human being, you, and I, willingly choose to view, live, and communicate through the language of the Paschal Mystery of Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and ascension. The entire premise and nature of a cruciform worldview is the daily engagement and proclamation of the Cross of Christ, meaning we actively choose to bear the sufferings of Christ-redemptive suffering as the path toward our eternal reward in heaven if we so choose.

St. Peter provides us with another important point to consider in developing a cruciform worldview: keep sane and sober in your prayers, and above all, hold unfailing your love for one another since love covers a multitude of sins.[2] Prayerful sanity expresses a genuine desire to place our trust in Jesus Christ even when we are opposed for openly professing and living the Catholic faith in a public forum, and spiritual sobriety reveals the reality of the Cross and the willingness to endure both spiritual and physical suffering in the name of Jesus Christ. The anatomy of a Cruciform worldview requires us to seek active participation in the Divine life of Christ while still on earth. Recognition of our own identity as a child of the Father made in his image and likeness is the first step in understanding the anatomy of a Cruciform worldview. Why, because it reveals the composition of our identity as body and soul, where the soul serves as the foundation of our intellect and will, the exercise of faith and reason, our body serves as the physical expression of our human actions, either conforming to Christ or not.  

The notion that an act of spiritual accommodation, listening, or accompaniment can be effective without a direct reference to the nature and purpose of the Cross of Christ is ignorant and, worse, indifferent. The proclamation of the Gospel is meaningless if the person proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ fails to demonstrate how the Gospel is to be actively lived through the Creed. A person who decides to discern an active relationship with Christ in the Church must be met with both a loving interaction from a human witness reflective of Jesus Christ crucified, but also be shown how to live a new life with the Cross of Christ gradually over time. The are two essential reasons why the adoption of a Cruciform worldview is very important, the first is to help us suffer well both spiritually and physically, the second is to help keep our conscience clear, recognizing the peril of adopting sinful behavior.  

The second week of Easter provides us with an opportunity, after the octave, to strengthen our relationship with Christ through the suffering of the Cross. This is the basis of developing a view of the world through the Cross. In his second epistle, St. Peter provides us, in my opinion, with how to develop a cruciform worldview,

For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these things are yours and abound, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these things is blind and shortsighted and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Therefore, brethren, be the more zealous to confirm your call and election, for if you do this, you will never fall; so there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.[3]