The Power of the Cross

Applying the Passion of Christ to Your Life

by Michael Dubruiel

OSV, 2004

272 pages, $12.95

To order: (800) 348-2440

or catalog.osv.com

In introducing his material, Michael Dubruiel issues this warning: “There are parts of this book with which you may readily agree; other sections will probably anger you.”

He was right. More on that in a moment.

Dubruiel has written a provocative and challenging devotional book. It is organized into 42 short chapters, each containing two Scripture verses, a two- to three-page reflection and a series of questions and/or suggestions to consider. Each chapter takes only five or 10 minutes to read, but the questions and suggestions are probing enough to serve as launching pads to many minutes — or even hours — of fruitful prayer.

Dubruiel’s style is subdued and understated. But it’s also engaging, as he liberally peppers his books with quotes and anecdotes. “Serving as an altar boy for the Stations of the Cross on Friday nights in my parish is one of my favorite boyhood memories,” he writes. “I realize now that the simple devotion I participated in throughout my youth taught me a lesson that my friends did not receive: Failure and suffering are a part of every life. Seen through the Passion of Christ, they can be a part of God’s plan for us.”

The book’s emphasis on the cross makes it especially suitable for Lent, although it doesn’t build enough of a sense of progression for my liking: Some of the most challenging chapters are close to the front of the book.

Which brings me to the part that made me mad.

When I started the chapter on reconciliation, I winced as I read the account of “Joe,” who left the priesthood to marry and whose sister therefore refuses to speak to him even though he has been laicized and his marriage recognized by the Church. I couldn’t help wishing that Dubruiel had chosen a less controversial example.

It took me a day of stewing to realize why that particular story got my hackles up: I was actually on the sister’s side, doing exactly what she was doing — standing in judgment over her brother, and even over the Church, for daring to do and proclaim something that violated a “more Catholic than the Pope” ideology, even though I know nothing about “Joe” or the circumstances that led to his decision or how the Church arrived at its ruling.

A few hackles were also raised, I thought, when Jesus stood up from writing in the dirt and said to the bloodthirsty crowd, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone” at the woman caught in adultery.

I think Dubruiel’s choice of this example was not an oversight. He wants to challenge his readers to recognize how wrong it is to condemn anyone who has brought his sins to the Church and found forgiveness.

In the end, we are all literally at God’s mercy. That’s what the confessional is all about. No wonder the Church chooses Lent to emphasize the sacrament of reconciliation with special fervor.

“Starting today,” Dubruiel writes, “take up your cross. Forget the failings of the past. Don’t worry about what tomorrow will bring. Open yourself up to God’s will for your life, with all its unsettling possibilities. Believe in the mercy of God that can withstand an honest appraisal of past sinful actions. Let go of your right to judge others or dictate terms. This is the power of the cross: In our weakness and humility, God’s love reigns supreme.”

Welcome to Lent, 2005.

Clare Siobhan writes from

Winfield, Illinois.