This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.
Today again we see magnificent wisdom on the part of the Church in its selection of the readings for this feast.
There is something unexpected about today’s feast. It is the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, also known as the Triumph of the Holy Cross. It is not called the Triumph of the Resurrection, but of the Cross.
The second reading is one of the most beautiful passages in all of Scripture, perhaps because St. Paul himself is clearly so moved by the degree of Christ’s gratuitous willingness to undergo slavery, abasement and death to free us from our sins. In harmony with the glorifying action of God the Father, St. Paul exalts joyfully in the greatness and glory of such a Savior.
The Gospel passage recalls the first reading, where at God’s command, Moses lifts up the image of a saraph serpent, and the Israelites are cured of their snakebites, which are the result of their sin against God. Interestingly, it is the image not of something holy, but of the serpent–the fruit of their sin–that is used to bring about their healing.
So it is with the Holy Cross: It is God crucified, the horrible fruit of our sin, that heals us from that sin. “For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.”
It is not the Resurrection on its own that we venerate, forgetting about the Cross like some sort of unpleasant necessary evil that is best not talked about. Rather, the glorious, triumphant light of the Resurrection shines on and exalts the Cross as the culminating act of all history: The moment when God Himself in flesh performs the greatest act of love ever witnessed, sacrificing His life out of love that “the world might be saved through Him.” The Cross is the moment of Jesus Christ’s great power, when He wins victory over sin and death.
Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Contemplate a crucifix. Imagine the glorious light of the Resurrection shining on it. Tell Jesus that you adore Him right there, at that moment, on the Cross, and you believe in the power of His sacrifice. Tell Him that you embrace the way of the Cross, of sacrificial love, for your own life as well, with all your heart.
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