By the cross, however, all sin is swept up and placed on a hill beyond Jerusalem... Here totals meet... All sin, total sin; and all forgiveness, total forgiveness... The sum of man's years and man's shame and the greater sum of God's forgiveness and God's love... A religion without forgiveness is only the ghost of a religion which haunts the graves of dead faith and lost hope... No wisdom, no culture, no philosophy can give answer to the first need of man, the need of a hand so strong that it can break down the wall of separation between the two worlds in which we must live and the need of a heart so great it can take all sins into itself and still have room for forgiveness... -- O.P. Kretzmann, The Pilgrim pp. 44, 45

We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee, for by Thy holy cross Thou hast redeemed the world!