Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

Today's Mass Readings

The Cross. So often we associate it with pain, with suffering. It becomes something we would like to avoid if possible. If this is the case with the noun “cross,” there is more to be said for the adjective in describing a “cross” person. Such an individual whom we describe as cross, even if it is a baby who exhibits behavior that might be thought of as angry acting, who is whining and fussy, such a person can so easily get on our nerves. If it is an infant, we look for a way to satisfy or correct the irritation (like changing the diaper!). With an older person, we might be more apt to tell him or her to “get over it” and leave us alone. We prefer to avoid a person whom we regard as cross and generally disagreeable. Still, in the event we are more patient, maybe we can offer a listening ear and hear what is bothering such a person.

To return to the physical instrument, in Jesus’ time, the cross was an instrument of torture. The Romans were renowned for developing instruments that could inflict the utmost pain and suffering on the criminal whose behavior warranted death or those who opposed or even threatened authority. For those who died on the cross it was seen as a slow agonizing treatment that could possibly last for hours or even days. The arms were fixed, the chest was stretched, the person ‘s feet were supposedly given the opportunity to relieve the weight pulling on the arms, but that was an illusion. There could be no comfort, no letup of the pain. The body’s weight continued to pull the person down, making breathing more difficult, if not impossible. Crucifixion, to be condemned to death by being crucified on a cross was a terrible way to die. The Romans had done it. It was a slow, terrible way to make the person suffer as much as possible and for as long as possible. The person on the cross would be happy to die just to get the suffering over with.

Today the Church invites us to celebrate the Triumph of the Holy Cross. Paul would tell the people, “We ought to glory in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ”. We ought to glory in it because it is the instrument that brought about our salvation. By itself, it did nothing but hold the body, the precious body of Jesus. This cross was the blessed place where Jesus breathed his last and gave his life as a ransom for the many. Many of us adorn our homes with the image of Jesus on the cross, reminding us that he gave his life for us. Most often we see the image of the suffering Jesus. This is the most common representation and why we call it a crucifix. In the early church, the image was one of Christ the High Priest. Here he is seen robed as a priest, the one who offered himself in the life-giving sacrifice, much as the high priest of old offered the sacrificial lamb on the night of the Exodus and the liberation of the people from their bondage in Egypt. By his Passion, Death and Resurrection, we are saved and brought into communion with the whole Church. In our Baptisms, we go down into the watery grave that we might rise again full of life and holiness, born again of water and the Spirit. We remind ourselves of this great mystery each time we enter a Church and bless ourselves with the water from the font. The sign of the Cross is the remembrance of the cross where Jesus died and where we too will die with him and rise with him to heavenly glory. In the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Reflection by Fr. Martin Demeulenaere, OSB