WE ADORE YOU O CHRIST, AND WE BLESS YOU
BECAUSE BY YOUR HOLY CROSS YOU HAVE REDEEMED THE WORLD!
BACKGROUND
The Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (Triumph of the Cross), celebrated every year on September 14, recalls two historical events: the finding of the True Cross by Saint Helena, mother of emperor Constantine, and the dedication of churches built by Constantine (335) on the site of the Holy Sepulcher and Mount Calvary
After the death and resurrection of Christ, both the Jewish and Roman authorities in Jerusalem made efforts to obscure the Holy Sepulcher, Christ’s tomb, in a garden near the site of His crucifixion. The earth was mounded up over the site, and pagan temples were built on top of it. According to tradition, Saint Helena, Mother of Emperor, Constantine, nearing the end of her life, decided under divine inspiration to travel to Jerusalem in 326 to excavate the Holy Sepulcher in an attempt to locate the True Cross.
Three crosses were found on the spot. Saint Helena and Saint Macarius, the bishop of Jerusalem, assumed that one was the True Cross and the other two belonged to the thieves crucified alongside Christ. They devised an experiment to determine which was the True Cross. According to tradition, the body of a dead man was placed on all three crosses. The True Cross restored the dead man to life.
In celebration of the discovery of the Holy Cross, Constantine ordered the construction of churches at the site of the Holy Sepulcher and on Mount Calvary. Those churches were dedicated on September 13 and 14, (335), and shortly thereafter the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross began to be celebrated on September 14.
COMMENTARY
The cross reminds us of many things: atonement, forgiveness, mercy, redemption, salvation, love, and hope. This instrument of torture, designed to disgrace and dismiss the worst of criminals, became the life-giving tree that reversed Adam’s Original Sin when Adam ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden
At Mass, we offer in an unbloody manner the same sacrifice offered on Calvary. We offer ourselves with the priest who acts in the person of Christ (persona Christi) to the Father in a sacrificial atonement for our sins. When we receive the Sacrament of Holy Communion, we do not simply unite ourselves to Christ; we nail ourselves to the Cross. “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” (Luke 9:23).
At Jesus’ death, the Temple veil before the “holy of holies” was split in two from top to bottom revealing the inner heart of God. There is no longer a veil between us and God’s heart. The cross of Jesus fully reveals what God looks like! The cross of Jesus doesn’t just reveal God’s unconditional love for us; but also reveals that vulnerability is the path to intimate relationship with God.
When we become like little children, vulnerable, dependent, and acknowledge that we are powerless, then God can come into that vulnerability/weakness. St. Paul puts it this way in 2nd Corinthians, “Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints for the sake of Christ, for when I am weak, then I am strong.* 2 Corinthians 12:9-10
God will not abandon us nor did He abandon His Son on the cross. With the words, “It is finished,” Jesus acknowledged that He has remained faithful to the Father’s will and trusts that all will be well. On Easter, Jesus is raised in glory and sits today and forever at right hand of the Father in heaven, preparing a place for us.
For the Jews require signs, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: But we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews indeed a stumbling block, and unto the Gentiles foolishness . . . ” 1 Corinthians 1:22-23. When we can no longer help ourselves because we have become paralyzed with fear and overcome by darkness, Trust in Jesus! God can still come through our locked doors, stand inside our fear and paralysis, and breathe peace among us.. “On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst “Peace be with you.” John 20:19
REFLECTION
Today, more than ever, non-Christians see the Cross as foolishness. What kind of Savior triumphs through death? For Christians, however, the Cross is the Tree of Life. Christianity without the Cross is meaningless. Only by uniting ourselves to Christ’s Sacrifice on the Cross can we enter into eternal life. O cross, you are the glorious sign of victory. Through your power may we share in the triumph of Christ Jesus!
God is not a wrathful God.. “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn* the world, but that the world might be saved through him.” John 3:17 God does not coerce our free will. God is like a gentle mother coaxing her child to take that next step in learning to walk. The cross and resurrection of Jesus reveals a redeeming God,
Jesus, in his human nature, takes upon Himself all the hate, bitterness, resentment, violence, and sins of this world. Suffering in this world is inevitable. God did not promise us a thornlrss “rose garden” . He did promise to nurture, feed, and prune that rose garden as He brings it to the fullness of glory in heaven. Don’t resist God! Do you really want to be all there is for all eternity? Are you enough? Or is there something that says to you like St. Augustine, “My heart is restless until it rests in Thee!”
O HAPPY FAULT THAT EARNED FOR US SO GREAT,
SO GLORIOUS A REDEEMER!