By James Cavanagh

Sept. 14: Exaltation of the Holy Cross
Scripture readings:
• Numbers 21:4-9
• Psalm 78:1-2, 34-38
• Philippians 2:6-11
• John 3:13-17

Theme: The altar of the cross. The cross is the most prominent symbol of our faith. We are marked with it at our baptism; we make the sign of it when we pray; we wear it as an emblem around our necks; and we are signed with it when we die. It’s the focal point in our churches. This week’s readings invite us to contemplate the cross: the instrument by which God in Christ reconciled the world to himself (2 Cor 5:19). In our first reading, the image of a serpent (symbol of sin and death) is mounted on a pole so that anyone who gazes upon it will live. The serpent prefigures Christ who “was made to be sin who knew no sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor 5:21). The second reading is an early Christian hymn glorifying Jesus Christ who “humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.”  “Because of this,” Paul says, “God has highly exalted him.”  The Gospel reading emphasizes the victorious nature of the cross. Once an instrument of shame and death, the cross has now become the symbol of hope and eternal life. Above all, the cross signifies the love of God which conquers all.

Key verse: “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life” (Jn 3:14-15).“Catechism of the Catholic Church”: “The cross is the unique sacrifice of Christ, the one mediator between God and men.  ‘Apart from the cross there is no other ladder by which we may get to heaven’ (St. Rose of Lima).  The altar of the New Covenant is the Lord’s Cross, from which the sacraments of the Paschal mystery flow. On the altar, which is the center of the Church, the sacrifice of the Cross is made present under sacramental signs” (No. 618; 1182).

Pope Benedict XVI:  “Whoever seeks to gain his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve it.” In these words, Jesus portrays his own path, which leads through the Cross to the Resurrection: the path of the grain of wheat that falls to the ground and dies, and in this way bears much fruit. Starting from the depths of his own sacrifice and of the love that reaches fulfillment therein, he also portrays in these words the essence of love and indeed of human life itself” (“Deus Caritas Est,” 6).

Application: Through the cross God demonstrates his love for the world and by it ‘draws all men to himself’ (Jn 12:32).  The cross is not only the instrument by which our sins are forgiven, it is the symbol of Christ’s victory over death and the source of hope to all.  Every time we make the sign of the cross we confirm the mystery of our salvation.