September 14 2022 - Exaltation of the Holy Cross - The sign of God's love for sinners

Today marks the celebration of what Saint John Paul II called THE symbol of Christianity. Most of us marked ourselves with it upon entering the Church today, we began mass with it, we’ll end Mass with it.  Essentially, every time we Catholics pray, we begin and end our prayer with it.  Many of our bedrooms and dining rooms have one.  All types of people where it around their necks, from bishops to baseball players to teenage rockstars.   The priest holds his arms in this shape during the Eucharistic prayer.  It is the central focal point of every Catholic church.  Of course, I’m speaking of the cross.

Worn around our necks, adorning our homes and churches, beginning and ending our prayers, the cross is not a good luck charm, it is a reminder that in baptism the Christian has been claimed by Christ, loved by God, that Christ has died for us. “God so loved the world” as we heard in our Gospel today, “that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” Christ was sent unto the cross, that we might be delivered unto heaven.

The cross is a sign of God’s love. When we make the sign of the cross, when we wear a cross, when we adorn our home with a cross, that cross is to be a reminder of God’s love; the willingness of Christ to go to the cross for you and for me and every sinner. Not because we were righteous, but because we were lost. Heaven was closed for us. Hell was our destiny.

The cross of suffering and death embraced by Christ is the key that opened the gates of heaven, it is the new tree of life from which flows the fruit of eternal life, so much so that the early Christians sang: O Crux ave, spes unica.  Hail O Cross, Our Only Hope. Piis adauge gratiam, reisque dele crimina, grant increase of grace to believers and remove the sins of the guilty.

And yet, today is not simply a reflection on the importance of the cross 2000 years ago, it is a called for Christians to make the cross known to the world. The feast is called the exaltation of the cross—the lifting high of the cross, the bringing the light of the cross to others.

St. Louis de Montfort says "The cross is a sure sign that God loves you... The greatest proof that we are loved by God is when we are despised by the world and burdened with crosses--when we are made to endure the privation of things we could rightly claim; when our holiest wishes meet with opposition; when we are afflicted with distressing and hurtful insults; when we are subjected to persecution, to have our actions misinterpreted by good people or by those who are our best friends... If Christians knew the value of the cross they would walk a hundred miles to obtain it, because enclosed in the beloved cross is true wisdom..."

The light of the Cross shows us the love God has for us, and by taking up our own crosses, embracing self-sacrifice, service, mortification, penance and ever persecution for the sake of the kingdom, we show that it is by the light of the cross, not the light of worldly values and pleasures, that we are made worthy of the kingdom of heaven.

May we exalt the cross in all we say and do, and by it ourselves be exalted, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

- - - - - - 

That the Church may lift high the Cross of Christ, proclaiming forgiveness and redemption in him alone, we pray to the Lord...

That world leaders may look upon the Son of God, believe in him, and take hold of the peace and justice that only he can bring, we pray to the Lord...

That all whose lives are marked by suffering may discover the saving power of the cross of Christ, and be victorious in all their trials, we pray to the Lord...

That those who embrace the cross as they work for justice for the poor, the oppressed, and the unborn, may find strength and success in their work, we pray to the Lord…

That the sick may be blessed with patience during the difficult parts of their journey in life, we pray to the Lord...

That all who have died may experience the eternal life won by the cross of Christ, especially the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, for my dear friend Father Robert Wendelken on the anniversary of his death, and for N. for whom this Mass is offered, we pray to the Lord...

Almighty ever-living God, comfort of mourners, strength of all who toil, may the prayers of those who cry out in any tribulation come before you, that all may rejoice, because in their hour of need your mercy was at hand. Through Christ our Lord. (From Good Friday Petitions)

 

September 14 2021 - Exaltation of the Holy Cross - Crux Spes Unica (The Cross is our only hope)

This last Sunday, Our Lord told us that we must take up our crosses. Today, on this feast of the exaltation we hear that we are not only to take up our crosses, but lift up the cross of Christ to be a source of healing for the world. We hear twice in our readings about lifting something up. 

In the first reading, from the book of Numbers, we hear how the people of Ancient Israel had become afflicted with this terrible and deadly venom, bitten by snakes on their journey through the desert. God delivered them, he saved them, by giving them a powerful remedy. Moses was instructed to mount and lift up this serpent mounted on a pole, and all who looked upon it were saved.

In the Gospel, the Lord explains how his very public death on the cross was to be a source of healing, not just for a small group of people at one point in history, but a source of healing for all the world throughout all of history. 

Paul says, “The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” Christians are tasked with lifting high this cross, to help the perishing believe in its power, to wake them out of their slumber to help them know the healing, the salvation that comes through the cross.

Paul wrote those words to the fractured community of Corinth. Many of the Corinthian Christians had turned away from the cross, they had fallen back into the immorality and perversions of the world—their souls were at risk. So Paul encouraged the Corinthians to look to the cross as a sign of healing for the divided community, a way out of their divisive sinfulness. The cross would unite them, the cross would heal them of the snake venom of sinfulness. 

The cross is the call to conversion because it is a sign of God’s great love for us, that he desires so much more for us than the sinfulness we have so often freely chosen. He desires our wholeness, our holiness, our salvation, so much that he is willingness to go to the cross for us. 

There are so many divisions in the 21st century Church it’s almost like we’re one gigantic Corinth. Yes, many gifts, many graces, but also many divisions, many sins. The early Church had a saying, Crux spes unica—the cross is our only hope. 

Many times throughout the day, we do well to spend a few moments looking to the cross, pleading to the crucified one, to bring us healing, bring us wholeness, bring us unity, that we may lift high the cross in our own lives for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

- - - - - - -  

That the Church may lift high the Cross of Christ, proclaiming forgiveness and redemption in him alone, we pray to the Lord...

That world leaders may look upon the Son of God, believe in him, and take hold of the peace and justice that only he can bring, we pray to the Lord...

That all whose lives are marked by suffering may discover the saving power of the cross of Christ, and be victorious in all their trials, we pray to the Lord...

That those who embrace the cross as they work for justice for the poor, the oppressed, and the unborn, may find strength and success in their work, we pray to the Lord…

That the sick may be blessed with patience during the difficult parts of their journey in life, we pray to the Lord...

That all who have died may experience the eternal life won by the cross of Christ, especially the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, for my dear friend Father Robert Wendelken on the anniversary of his death, and for N. for whom this Mass is offered, we pray to the Lord...

Almighty ever-living God, comfort of mourners, strength of all who toil, may the prayers of those who cry out in any tribulation come before you, that all may rejoice, because in their hour of need your mercy was at hand. Through Christ our Lord. (From Good Friday Petitions)