Christ showed us that suffering and death, hatred and violence, do not have the last word. He did so not by eliminating or fighting or destroying them, but by accepting and transforming them. That’s why we celebrate the cross: not because it is good, but because through the cross we have also received the power to transform suffering and death. When we respond to hatred with love and violence with peace, when we forgive those who do evil against us, we join Christ in pouring forth love in the face of evil, and it is this love that we celebrate today: the love that Christ poured out in response to the violence of the cross. There is no greater expression of love than the cross, and that is why it is central to our faith.   Readings at this Mass: Nm 21:4b–9 | Phil 2:6–11 | Jn 3:13–17