Today we venerate in a special way the cross to which Jesus was nailed and on which He was lifted up as He hung dying for the sins of the world
Reflections on the readings for the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (September 14, 2022): NM 21:4-9; PS 78:1-2.34-35,36-37,38; PHIL 2:6-11; JN 3:13-17
MISSIO offers “Mission In Scripture” to nurture a missionary heart, providing reflections on the missionary themes in the readings of Sundays, Feast Days and Holy Days.
The cross that was so abhorrent to the people who witnessed it used by the Roman Empire to denigrate and destroy lives is now a sign of our Christian belief in Jesus.
In 326 A.D., St. Helena who was a Christian and the mother of Constantine the Roman Emperor went to Jerusalem to seek the cross on which Jesus died. By tradition, three crosses were located in an excavation on Calvary. The correct one was determined when a dying woman touched it and was healed. The Emperor arranged for a church to be constructed at what is now the site of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. On today’s feast we honor our Savior as we remember the instrument of torture and death that He embraced for the redemption of His children. Only the sacrifice of His own life could draw us back from the chasm of sin and death. When Jesus, the Son of God and Son of the Blessed Virgin Mary, was born into the world, He held nothing back. Body and blood, soul and divinity -- He gave Himself entirely for each of us. “Christ Jesus, though He was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, He emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:6-8).
The cross that was so abhorrent to the people who witnessed it used by the Roman Empire to denigrate and destroy lives is now a sign of our Christian belief in Jesus. In our churches, homes, hospitals, museums, cemeteries, all over the world crosses and crucifixes remind us of the great mercy of the Almighty Father who sent His Son so that we might have life everlasting. St. Catherine of Sienna, a 14th century mystic and now a Doctor of the Church, wrote: “To attain the most perfect love … set before your mind’s eye Christ crucified and the indescribable charity He has demonstrated for you by shedding His blood with such blazing love. … In times of struggle and weariness, run with this light of holy faith to embrace the most holy cross, and there put your hope confidently in the Blood of Christ crucified.” Like our Lord, we must not be afraid to grasp whatever cross might be given to us. He will help us carry it. And, ultimately, He will welcome us home.
Suggested missionary action: Every day let us put ourselves in the presence of Christ Crucified. We can also make a practice of praying the acclamation we often say at the Consecration of the Mass: “Save us, Savior of the world, for by Your Cross and Resurrection You have set us free.”