“When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I AM, and that I do nothing on my own, but I say only what the Father taught me. The one who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, because I always do what is pleasing to him.”

The sun rays were just breaking into the cool summer sky when I reached the highest point of my pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago: the Iron Cross. On one side of the path rose a mountain of stones, from which emerged a medieval wooden pole with a simple small metal cross affixed to the top. Following the tradition of countless peregrinos, I pulled a little stone from my pocket and placed it at the base of this cross. This stone, plucked from the beach near my parents’ home and carried across an ocean and several countries, had become my companion during my hours of walking, serving as a reminder of the intentions I offered throughout my pilgrimage. I had pressed into that stone my hurts, my sins, and my fears about the future. The Iron Cross where I left my stone didn’t mark the end of my pilgrimage; I had over 150 miles left before reaching Compostela. As I affixed my burdened stone to the foot of the cross, I knew that the next steps of my journey meant affixing myself to the cross.

In today’s Gospel, the Jews are unable to understand who Christ is. Jesus repeatedly tries to explain himself, prophesying how they would ultimately recognize him—not wielding power or in splendor as we imagine it, but lifted up on the cross.

Do I recognize Christ as Lord when he is lifted up? As I am united to him in my baptism, do I unite myself to him in my suffering? How often do I give into fear and feel abandoned in my pain? I hold onto my stones rather than letting them be transfigured by Christ’s Cross. Yet, at the close of today’s Gospel, we are reminded of the enduring reality of our God: “He has not left me alone.”