It is rare for us to celebrate the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on a Sunday. This feast commemorates the dedication, in 335, of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre built on the site of the Crucifixion by the Emperor Constantine.
There is a very clear relationship between the first reading (Numbers 21:4-9) and the Gospel. The people in the first reading are healed by looking at a bronze serpent lifted up in their midst by Moses. Jesus says in the Gospel that he, too, must be lifted up so that all who believe may have life. The second reading is the beautiful hymn from the letter to the Philippians (2:6-11). It is about God who willingly gives up his divinity in Christ to become one of us, accepting death on the cross to show the depth of God’s love.
The cross is a symbol full of contradictions: an instrument of cruelty and torture, and yet the means of saving love; an instrument of shame and death, yet the way of restoring true dignity and life; an instrument of hatred and contempt, yet the strongest symbol of Love.
The symbol of the cross also carries the mixed realities of human life: moments of crucifixion and resurrection, moments of sorrow and joy, moments of suffering and healing, moments of hatred and reconciliation.
We use the Cross continually in our Christian tradition. We use it to mark the beginning and end of prayer and the Eucharist. It marks the beginning and end of our Christian journey in Baptism and the Funeral Rites. So, we use the Cross in moments of joy and gladness and sorrow and distress.
The Cross draws us into moments of deep awareness of the mystery of God’s love for us. It reminds us that suffering and death are not the end of our story, that life and healing can come out of darkness and pain, that God in Christ remains faithful to us even to death and beyond.
Today we rejoice in a God who loves us that much and pray that we may be a continuing source of love, life and healing for one another.