This is the same image as my "Carrying the Cross" with a different background. I intended to hint at the spiritual aspect of our journey to God, of our carrying our own cross.

The Paladins

"Quite
 honestly, this generation needs to re-learn what it means to take up their
 cross and follow Christ. We moderns comprehend the loving Father we know
 God to be, but we ever seem to forget that love requires sacrifice, that
 love without sacrifice is nothing, that in proving our love we too will
 discover a cross, a cross we too must embrace for love of God and our
 fellow man. Quite frankly, there is no love without the cross; not without
 our Lord's cross, not without ours.

from The Paladin's Message in a bottle # 5

The WYD cross has been carried and prayed with by millions of young people of all the continents of the world since Pope John Paul II entrusted the Cross to the youth of the world in 1984 saying "carry it as a symbol of Christ's love for humanity."

The symbol has been a focal point of World Youth Day events since 1985.

In 2003 the Pope entrusted an Icon of Our Lady to accompany the cross in its journey across the globe to key events and locations.

The Cross and Our Lady Icon carry a message of peace, hope and reconciliation.

The Tree of Life

"The  epistle to the Ephesians exhorts us to be rooted and grounded in love, so that, together with all the saints, we 'may have power to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge.' There can be little doubt that this epistle emanating from the school of St. Paul is referring to the cosmic Cross and thereby taking up traditions about the cross-shaped tree of the world that holds everything together—a religious idea that was also well known in India. St. Augustine has a wonderful interpretation of this important passage from St. Paul. He sees it as representing the dimensions of human life and as referring to the form of the crucified Christ, whose arms embrace the world and whose path reaches down into the abyss of the underworld and up to the height of God himself."

The above passage taken from The Spirit of the Liturgy by Pope Benedict XVI (182) inspired this digital painting. I call it "Tree of Life."

This painting attempts to capture all the images from this passage. The cross-shaped tree holding everything together is indeed the very Tree of Life. Christ's outstretched arms now embrace the entire world. The light of the Cross shines down into the netherworld and our own darkened world; the light of the Cross reveals the path up from the dark abyss to Christ and through Christ to the divine heights.

-VW Malzahn

the Paladins

The Paladin's Message in a Bottle - Issue #3

For the first time ever, two beloved audio records have been combined onto one 2-CD set - Seven Last Words: Lenten Reflections for Today's believers and The Stations of the Cross. The first disc, The Stations of the Cross, provides thought-provoking meditations while leading listeners through each of the fourteen stations. The second disc, Seven Last Words, reflects on themes from Jesus' final sayings from the Cross.
Song List: Disc 1

• The Stations Of The Cross
  

Total Play Time: 25 Minutes