Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

Today's Mass Readings

As Christians, we often take the symbol of the cross for granted. We wear it
around our necks, we have it hanging on our home walls and church walls,
and, in short, we see it so much that it becomes something familiar to us.
While this is not a bad thing, it can prevent us from realizing how shocking
the cross is or how controversial it might have been in years past. Today
we celebrate the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. We celebrate it
as a symbol of victory.

In the first reading we hear a curious passage from the book of Numbers. The
Hebrew people, sick of the food and isolated life in the desert complain
against God and Moses. You might recall that God had dramatically rescued
the people from slavery. One of the motivations for this deliverance was so
that they could worship God away from the false gods of the Egyptians. By
getting away from Egypt, they could rediscover their devotion to the one
true God. But instead, they got disgusted with their limited diet. The
reason for having this reading today, however, comes in the part about the
saraph serpents biting the people, and in their cure. God might have not
sent the serpents or he might have healed the people in a different way. The
bronze serpent on a pole has been seen as a prefiguring of the cross; it is
a symbol that likewise represents healing, which is why it remains the
contemporary symbol for medical doctors. So when we think about the cross as
a symbol of victory, one way to understand the victory of the cross is to
see it as something that heals us.

When we look to the second reading from St. Paul’s letter to the
Philippians, we find one of the most beautiful hymns of the New Testament.
Jesus emptied himself, became human, and even accepted death on a cross.
Because of this obedience, God exalted him. When we think about the cross
as a symbol of victory, we see that Jesus’ victory came from humility and
obedience. It was not a victory of force.

What kind of victory was it then? What is the victory that leads us to
celebrate the exaltation of the cross? Our gospel passage gives us an
answer. The victory of the cross is a victory of love. Out of God’s love, he
sent his only son that the world might be saved through him (Jn 3:17). It
was out of God’s love for his people that Jesus became human, humbling
himself, and dying on the cross to become the source of our healing. We are
healed by the love of God.

Hence the cross, that might have been regarded as a symbol of death and
defeat, has become a sign of our faith. We have faith that love conquers
all, including death. This is a peculiar kind of victory because it is not
one of power, might or domination as we usually think of it. We are called
to humble ourselves, to be obedient, to accept our struggles, and, most of
all, we are called to love.

Today, take some time to meditate on a cross or crucifix. How does this
experience help us to realize the meaning of the cross? How does it lead us
to share in the victory of love and healing and salvation?

Maria Morrow