Exaltation of the Holy Cross
September 14, 2014
"O GREAT WORK OF LOVE: that death then died when
Life was dead upon the Cross."
What could
possibly be more grotesque, more heinous a symbol than this instrument of
torture and laborious execution, used wantonly by the Romans to shame, maim and
drain the last breath of life out of all manner of criminal and traitor? And
yet how victorious it stands in its glory; the profoundest of all symbols of
love; the most potent symbol of life; and the eternal symbol of salvation. It
is the wood of the Cross on which hung the Saviour of the world.
It is the
greatest mystery of our faith that God so loved the world that he condescended
to the frailty of human life in the person of Jesus Christ; and being at once
true God and true man he gave what only man may give to gain for mankind what
only God may give: his death, for the destruction of death and the restoration
of life everlasting. For from time immemorial, God has willed that his chosen
people, our fathers in the faith, should regain that which they had lost in
Adam, through faithfulness to the covenant, that time and again He had offered
them for their salvation. But despite the wonders, the prophets, the conquests,
the Promised Land, the kings given by God as signs of his faithfulness, yet
still Israel would not believe. In an abundant outpouring of love, therefore,
God offered himself through the Incarnation of Christ, as the perfect
fulfilment of the Law and the perfect sacrifice Whose death would reconcile
mankind with God for ever more. It is with this in mind that St. Augustine
asks, “What may not the hearts of
believers promise themselves as the gift of God’s grace, when for their sake
God’s only Son, co-eternal with the Father, was not content only to be born as
man from human stock but even died at the hands of the men he had created?”
St. Augustine
elsewhere exhorts, “In order to be healed
from sin, gaze upon Christ crucified!” And that is precisely
what we are called upon to do today, as the Church invites us to exalt the
glorious Cross of the Saviour and adore Him who took upon Himself the burden of
our sin in order that we should have eternal life. Wherever you are reading
this article now, take a moment and find a Cross and spend some time looking upon
the Crucified One. See, in the words of Pope Benedict XVI, how “the
instrument of torture which, on Good Friday manifested God’s judgement on the
world, has become a source of life, pardon, mercy, a sign of reconciliation and
peace.” Understand what Christ has done for you on the Cross.
Understand and rejoice.
Rejoice for
Christ has turned this symbol of death into a source of life; the tears of
defeat into shouts of victory; the weakness of human flesh into the strength of
Almighty God. And what an icon of strength the Cross is, and what faith it
inspires that the Apostles Peter, Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Simon and Jude
are believed to have embraced the same death as their saviour rather than deny
their faith in Him. And today, the Holy Cross still stands as a courageous
witness to lives lived in the spirit of the Gospel; a symbol of hope, of
safety, of peace in a world that is increasingly full of despair, war, and
hatred. And we too, like the Apostles, are called to live the way of the Cross
with the strength and conviction that it inspires; to obey the command of
Christ to take up our cross daily and follow him. But what does this mean for
us? It means a willingness to accept, with faith in the providence of God, the
means of healing that the Cross of Christ offers. It means accepting that we
need Him, and grasping the foot of the Cross, as the tempests of the modern
world try to tear us apart. It means, when catastrophes fall, that we keep the
faith, as did Noah. It means that, when sacrifice is demanded of us, we offer
ourselves with faith, whole-heartedly into the hands of God, as did Abraham. It
means suffering whatever the world throws at us with patience and a stubborn
trust in the love of God, as did Job. It means knowing that no trial, no pain,
no hardship or misery can ever be more arduous than that already suffered by
the innocent Lamb of God, Whose Cross is your triumph, your life and your glory
in Him Who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.
