Boasting in the Cross

A Reflection on the Second Reading for Sunday, July 6th, 2025:
​Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

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Galatians
​6.14-18

Brothers and sisters: May I never boast of anything except the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything; but a new creation is everything!

As for those who will follow this rule — peace be upon them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God. From now on, let no one make trouble for me; for I carry the marks of Jesus branded on my body.

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen.

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

It’s a little bit surprising to have a saint tell you to boast in something. 

When I first began reflecting on this passage from Saint Paul, I took that guttural reaction to the word “boasting” and did a little research to find out what the word really means. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “boast” as: to praise oneself extravagantly in speech : speak of oneself with excessive pride; for example, “boasting about her accomplishments.” Then I really thought a saint shouldn’t be promoting this activity! 

But there is a second definition there, labelled “archaic.” And it reads, to glory, to exult. Now it begins to fall into place in the scriptural setting. It’s interesting how over time, this word – which was meant to express glory and exultation for something accomplished by God – became a self-absorbed way of shining one’s own golden trophy. But I imagine that Saint Paul meant the second definition, and that maybe we could paraphrase it to something like, “May I never speak about myself or my own accomplishments! May I always rather glory in the Lord, exulting His Son’s death and resurrection, and in all the ways He has allowed me to share in that cross!”

In another place in Scripture, Saint Paul writes, “What do you have that you did not receive? And if you received it, why do you boast as if it were not a gift?” So, we really cannot rightly “boast” in the first sense without also “boasting” about all that God has done for us! Everything we have is a gift, and it is meant to shine out for the glory of God. 

For Saint Paul – and for me – the best thing that we have is the cross. This is the best and hardest gift that we have from God. And it’s not just a platitude. Every day in my real life, when big or little sufferings come up, do I get gloomy? Or do I glory in the cross? 

And do I believe that going with Jesus to the cross also means going with Him into His resurrection? I guess this is what it means to be “pilgrims of hope” in times of suffering… to see that “beyondness” of things, and how He wants us to glory in it all.




​Sister Angela Burnham​

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