04/04/2026
The story of CCSM’s 2026 alfombra
This alfombra (carpet), made from sawdust and flowers, is part of a Latin American tradition that paves the way for the sacred. Its beauty is fleeting, like
human life, particularly vulnerable life, so easily broken.
On this Holy Saturday, we do not view the cross as a distant memory, but as a revelation that transcends time. The image before us is inspired by the story of Liam, a five-year-old migrant boy detained alongside his father by immigration officers in the United States while his family was going through the asylum process. His detention, on his way home with his school rucksack, became a painful sign of our times: a childhood interrupted by systems that prioritise control over compassion.
The crosses we see do not belong solely to the past. They rise up today as well,
wherever human dignity is subordinated to fear, and life is treated as a problem
rather than a gift. The Passion narrative reminds us that violence can be legal,
structured, and even normalised. Jesus does not die at the hands of chaos, but
within a system that legitimises his elimination. And yet, he refuses to respond in
kind: he stops the violence, heals the wounded, and offers forgiveness even on the cross.
Thus, the cross not only exposes human violence but also reveals the nonviolent
heart of God. Liam’s story, and that of so many migrant families, confronts us with this truth: The cross continues to be borne today by those seeking refuge who face detention, by those treated as disposable, and by children marked by
uncertainty and fear. The words love, dignity, and mercy are not abstract ideals.
They are a concrete ethic, a form of resistance.
To follow Jesus is to confront injustice without perpetuating violence. It is to embody an active, courageous, and transformative nonviolence. May this carpet not merely be gazed upon, but may it challenge and transform us.
May we, in recognising the crosses of our time, have the faithfulness to walk, like
Jesus, along the demanding path of love that does not give up.
For even today, the Good News is revealed:
not in the absence of violence,
but in the decision not to perpetuate it.
