HOMILY FOR THE FEAST OF THE EXALTATION OF THE CROSS

HOMILY FOR THE FEAST OF THE EXALTATION OF THE CROSS

How is it that we are exalting an instrument of torture? Make no mistake, the cross was the most horrific form of Roman torture and execution! The very mention of the cross would have evoked terror in the hearts of first century people living under Roman domination. The cross as a symbol would have terrified those who saw it.

This feast means that the brutal, horrific symbol of the cross has been transformed into a sign of the saving love of Jesus. We rejoice that something so terrible should have been transformed into a means of redemption for the whole human race.

St Helena and the Finding of the True Cross

In the 326 AD St Helena, mother of the Emperor Constantine and a devout Christian, journeyed to the Holy Land to visit and identify the Holy Places associated with the life of Jesus. Working with Bishop of Jerusalem, St Macarius, she excavated the site of Calvary and found three crosses at the site of the Crucifixion of Jesus. According to legend, to determine which was the True Cross, a dying woman was brought to the site. The woman touched each cross in turn. When she touched the third cross, she was immediately and miraculously healed, identifying it as the True Cross.

The feast we celebrate today has a number of different titles: 'The Finding of the True Cross,' 'The Feast of the Holy Cross,' 'The Triumph of the Cross,' and 'The Exaltation of the Cross'. Each of these titles adds something significant to our overall understanding of the Feast.

Helena had her son, Constantine, build a church on the site and had it dedicated as the 'Church of the Holy Sepulchre' on 14th September 335 AD. The Feast of 'The Finding of the True Cross' was celebrated on 3rd May. A third of the Cross remained in the church, while St Helena brought a third back to Rome and sent a third to Constantinople.

The Cross Recovered and Restored

In 614 AD the King of Persia invaded the Holy Land and stole the Cross. Fifteen years later the Cross was recovered from the Persians and brought back to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem by Emperor Heraclius of Constantinople on 14th September. Tradition has it that Emperor Heraclius carried the Cross on his back, in a public act of homage, to restore it to its rightful place; but, he was only able to move it after he had removed his royal garments and put on the humble garments of repentance instead. Since then, the date for the celebration of 'The Exaltation of the Cross' has been celebrated on this day.

Apart from the history of this feast which is rooted in the physical reality of the holy Cross on which Jesus was crucified, there is a more important spiritual significance and message. The exaltation of the Cross is the exaltation of Jesus Christ whose love for us and obedience to his Father culminated in his death on the cross.

The reading from the Book of Numbers reminds us that Moses lifted up the serpent on the cross in the desert. People looked at this cross that prefigured Jesus' cross and were healed. In John's Gospel we hear that Jesus refers to this lifting up of the serpent by Moses and he tells Nicodemus that he would be lifted up so that all who see him and believe in him would have eternal life. Then follows probably the most well-known verse in the Bible: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him may not die but may have eternal life."

The Cross as Symbol of Christian Commitment

The cross is the symbol of the Christian. It is our sign of our personal relationship with our Saviour. Jesus died not just for people in general but for me and for you. We should be careful of any suggestion or fashion that makes the cross is nothing more than a trinket, or a simple piece of jewellery. By wearing the cross we are proclaiming our commitment to the sacrificial love of Jesus. We proclaim that the only true power there is in the world is the power of total sacrificial love signified by the cross.

The cross proclaims that we are saved from evil and from meaningless lives through the love of Jesus. It is a bold declaration that Jesus is Lord. When we wear a cross, we are not just wearing jewellery; we are proclaiming our commitment to his sacrificial love and announcing to the world that he is Lord of our lives.

The deeper meaning of the Cross is presented in today's second reading from St Paul's Letter to the Philippians. Jesus emptied himself completely, not just becoming a human being but by accepting the most shameful, public death of the society he was in, to demonstrate the extent of the love of God for us. He died making a willing statement of love, filling the world with the love he had for his Father and his Father had for him.

How the Victory of the Cross Transforms Our Lives

How is the victory of the Cross evident in our lives? How do we connect with this exaltation of the Cross personally? Firstly, the Cross of Jesus proclaims that our sins can be forgiven. The cross of Christ proclaims that sin, evil and death have been conquered by the love of Jesus. We can connect with this feast by acknowledging our sinfulness, that we need this victory of Christ over our lives. To deny or not consciously engage with our need for forgiveness is to say that the Cross of Jesus wasn't necessary.

Secondly, our weaknesses and temptations are not impossible to defeat and overcome. The cross of Jesus proclaims that the victory has been won and we can claim that victory in our lives by inviting and drawing on the power of the Cross. Whatever might try to cause us to despair, when we are tempted to give up, when we dismayed and wearied by our own weaknesses, we can turn to the cross of Jesus, which proclaims a victory over our lives.

Thirdly, Jesus' exaltation provides a powerful source of hope. Our trials and sufferings, when united with his, can be transformed. The Cross is not a sign of defeat but of ultimate victory. When we are cast down, we can look to the one who was humbled and then exalted, knowing that he will likewise lift us up in his time. Our daily turmoil, our problems, our pain, all take on an infinite value when we trust them to Jesus, when we unite them to his cross.

When we understand who Christ is - the exalted Lord of all, our lives should be a response of worship and praise. We are called to "exalt the Lord our God" as the psalmist says (Ps 99:5). We bend the knee and bow and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Phil 2:11). This means we make his greatness visible to the world through our words and actions. We are his witnesses, called to proclaim the crucified and exalted Christ.

God loves the world so much that he gave his only son to the world so that when he would be lifted high on a cross all might be saved through him. Praise be Jesus Christ in who's cross we find meaning in this life and eternity in the next.