+ Today's feast – The Exaltation of the Holy Cross – celebrates the finding of the True Cross of Christ under a Roman landfill by the emperor Constantine's mother, Helen, and the subsequent dedication of a basilica built by Constantine on the site of the Holy Sepulcher and Calvary on September 14, 335. It is also known as "Holy Cross Day." There are other legends as to the actual reason behind the feast but this one seems most credible.
No matter the origin, the true single simple message for the feast is: salvation comes through Christ's death on the cross. Just as in the first reading Moses lifts up the bronze serpent in the desert to save the people from death, so Christ allows himself to be lifted up on the cross in order to save us and bring us to eternal life.
Last Sunday we talked about the fact that distributing mercy is what God does best. The Cross of Christ's death is meant to be for all time an unmistakable symbol of that mercy won, effected and ready for distribution. If Christ did not die on the cross then we would die in our sins and never see life forever with God. But he did die; he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness, humbling himself and becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.
Yes, God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son – so that whoever believes in may have eternal life. May our belief in the death and resurrection of Christ be strong today: and may every day be a "Holy Cross Day" – as we ever keep before us the image of the great instrument of both death and life; defeat and triumph; darkness and light: THE EXALTED CROSS OF CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD AND KING!
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world!
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