Word to the Wise
Wednesday, September 14, 2022 - Sept. 14: The Exaltation of the Cross
[Num 21:4b-9; Phil 2:6-11; John 3:13-17]Jesus said to Nicodemus: "No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so much the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. [John]
The most dramatic moment in the service on Good Friday is called the Veneration of the Cross. The celebrant brings in a large cross (not a crucifix) and unveils it in three stages, intoning at each stage in a higher voice: "Behold the wood of the cross, on which hung the Savior of the world!" The congregation responds "Come, let us worship!" The cross is then placed in a way that the congregation can come forward and touch or kiss or make some gesture of veneration. At various places where I have been the celebrant, I have placed a bowl with a sponge soaked in vinegar or filled with nails that could be dropped in a box at the foot of the cross. It is a powerful ritual moment.
The feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross commemorates the discovery in Jerusalem of what is believed to be the cross on which Jesus was crucified and the erection of the original church on that location in 335 A.D.. I have celebrated Mass at Calvary within the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Yet, it still seems a bit strange to me that the cross has become the universal symbol of Christianity, since it was originally regarded as a shameful thing. St. Paul's words in the second scripture today echo that sentiment: "even death on a cross!" The emphasis in today's scriptures, however, is on the effects and not on the instrument. The cross, an instrument of shameful torture and death becomes, ironically, an instrument of healing and deliverance by virtue of the one who hung hung upon it: Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews!!!
Although the suffering of Jesus can be a kind of comfort and solidarity to those who themselves are suffering, it is the redemptive effect of Jesus' suffering that stands out. In venerating the cross, we must never forget that it was (and still is) an instrument that points to the Savior who suffered, died and rose from the dead for us. Sacrificial love is celebrated today. AMEN