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September 14, 2007
The Feast of The Exaltation of the Cross
Today is the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. For many Catholics it is just another feast day. Yet what is the reason for feast days (another article, for another time)? Why did the Church feel compelled to create this feast day? What is its significance to you and me?
The origin of this feast is a little cloudy, most Church historians trace it back to Pope Sergius I (687-701). It originally commemorated the recovery of the True Cross from the Persians who had taken it (or at least a portion of it). However, over time the feast also became linked to the finding of the True Cross by St. Helena. Today we commemorate both events. Down through the ages, Catholics have always felt it necessary to honor the cross, as the instrument of our salvation. This feast calls us to rejoice in that reality, both from a salvific prespective and in its material presence - the True Cross.
Pope Benedict in meditating on the Cross wrote:
Looked at more deeply this sign, which forces us to look at the dangerousness of man and all his heinous deeds, at the same time makes us look upon God, who is stronger, stronger in his weakness, and upon the fact that we are loved by God. It is in this sense a sign of forgiveness that also brings hope into the abysses of history... God is crucified and says to us that this God who is apparently so weak is the God who incomprehensibly forgives us and who in his seeming absence is stronger.
- Benedictus: Day by Day with Pope Benedict XVI
This is the call to you and to me....we must recognize how dangerous our fallen nature is, but, at the same time, how great the love of God is and how powerful His forgiveness is...capable of transforming us, renewing us. Yet that transformation always contains the Cross, for in imitating Christ was must follow Him for He is the Way. That Way leads inevitably to Calvary, to the Cross.
Thomas a Kempis, in his Imitation of Christ, wrote:
If you would be high in heaven, be lowly in this world. If you want rule beside (Him), carry the cross at (His) side; it is only those who are servants of the cross who find the road to happiness and unfeigning light...so come on, brothers, let us advance together; Jesus will be with us. It is for the sake of Jesus that we have taken up this cross; for His sake let us keep on with it to the end. He will help us, for He has gone before us to be our guide.
May this feast day be a constant reminder to you of our Lord Jesus' love for you and of the sign of our salvation.
In Christ,
Joe
Posted by joe at September 14, 2007 9:23 AM
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Comments
as stanch catholic beleaver, I have reservations on "holy article " such as Jesus' cross, how 100% sure can the church prove that it is the real thing and not a made up relic for us to beleave such because the church sats it is???
How come many feast days are movable like the lenten season and not Christmas, does this make any sense to real life???
Thanks for your responce, Mando...
Posted by: mando a. at February 6, 2008 11:18 AM
