+ The origin of today’s feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross comes
from the 4th century when St. Helena, the mother of the Roman
Emperor Constantine, went to Jerusalem in search of the holy places of Christ’s
life. She razed the second-century Temple of Aphrodite, which tradition has it
was built over the Savior’s tomb, and her son built the Basilica of the Holy
Sepulcher over the tomb. During the excavation, workers found three crosses.
Legend has it that the one on which Jesus died was identified when its touch
healed a dying woman. Immediately the cross became an object of veneration. And
this date, the date of the dedication of the Basilica, was designated as its
feast day.
Scripturally, using the
readings of the feast, we celebrate “the feast of snakes and salvation.” The story from the Book of Numbers
today tells us of the cure for being bitten by God’s wrath – seraph snakes: Moses was to make a bronze seraph and
mount it on a pole – and then when any of the people who were bitten looked up
at the snake on the pole they would live: they would be healed.
This is an obvious reference
to the cross of Christ: the one who came
down from heaven to save us and give us eternal life would himself be
mounted on a cross of wood: and it is true: whenever anyone LOOKS UP AT HIM
THERE AND BELIEVES that “this is the Son of God come to save us” – then he will
be healed of all his spiritual maladies, and will have eternal life!
The
Cross trumps everything! Jesus lived in the shadow of that cross
his whole life long: he accepted and embraced it always, and he looked forward
eagerly to accomplishing our salvation on it; we too can live in its shadow and
have a blanket of protection cast upon our lives and an eternal reward promised
at its end. And when we look up and see Jesus – our hearts will be soothed and
our bodies energized to live a holy life.
One other thing that this
seraph snake image reminds me of is this: because of the Cross of Christ and
its subsequent victory, whenever we look up and face the things that we hate,
that we are afraid of, that are really destroying our lives whether we are
aware of it or not – the victory can be our as well: our hatred can turn to
love, our fear to bravery, and self-destruction can dissolve into self-respect
and healthy self-improvement.
Yes, the Cross of Christ trumps everything! Look at it! Embrace it!
Touch it! Love it! Venerate it! It is our Salvation!
We
adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, because by your Cross, you have redeemed
the world.
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