Homily for the Week of September 14, 2008

Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, 2008
Numbers 21:4b-9
Psalm 78:1bc-2, 34-35, 36-37, 38
Philippians 2:6-11
John 3:13-17
I recently visited a home and noticed a beautiful crucifix by the front door. I remarked how beautiful it was to which I got the question: ''What crucifix?'' I then pointed to it by the front door. And I got the response: ''I guess I've walked past it for so many years that I don't even notice it anymore.'' Has the cross, the crucifix we see, been around so long that we have forgotten what it is about? Is it now just another pretty thing to hang on the wall, or a pretty thing on a necklace, or pretty dangling earrings?
You might wonder why we Catholics have a weekend during which we honor the cross which was a violent means of torture used by the Romans. The Romans inherited this "tool" of torture from the Persians. Crucifixion was such a humiliating and horrible form of death that Roman citizens could not be put to death on a cross. Crucifixion was reserved for slaves and those who had committed treason or brutal crimes. After being beaten and tortured, victims were stripped naked, their clothing given to the soldiers. We honor the cross because Jesus carried his cross and died on it.
One of the most recognized religious symbols is that of the cross or a crucifix. A crucifix is a cross on which is the body of Jesus. At the center of every Catholic church you will find a cross. If you looked at older churches from the an airplane you would see the form of a cross. The cross hangs round the necks of hundreds of thousands of people in our world, perhaps many of you. Many religious communities of woman and men use the cross as the mark to distinguish them as persons dedicated in poverty, chastity and obedience. Crosses are even worn by some who have no visible outward sign of being religious, nor even Christians.
The Cross -- because of what it represents is universal symbol of the Christian faith. It has inspired our devotions. We are recognized as Catholics when we make the Sign of the Cross. Members of other religions do not make the sign of the cross. We make the sign of the cross as begin Mass and we our blessed by the sign of the cross as we finish Mass. We begin our prayers with the sign of the cross to fix our minds and hearts on God. We end our prayers with the sign of the cross to keep us close to Jesus. We make the sign of the cross as we enter the church, we make it on our forehead, lips and heart at the reading of the Gospel. We pray the Stations (or Way) of the Cross. On Good Friday we have a special Veneration of the Cross by kissing the feet of the image of Our Savior crucified. Very often a crucifix is placed on the casket at the beginning of a funeral. Our Rosary has a crucifix. Crucifixes are placed in Catholic school classrooms, in Catholic centers. The cross or the crucifix is a constant reminder of what we believe.
Jesus once said: He who does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake shall find it.
Very often as a priest I have had persons come to me to talk about spiritual issues. Sometimes they have been away from the church or organized religions for many years. The practice of their religion met very little to them. I remember one man in his 60's who had been away from formal religion for years. He came to talk with me to find out how to get back to church after the death of his wife. As we talked he proudly opened his billfold On the inside he had tacked a small cross which had been given to him by his grandmother at the time of his first communion. Tears came into his eyes as he looked at it, saying: Jesus has always been with me.
After 2000 years the cross has lost none of its power to attract and to convert. And that is so because the cross is the best visual telling us HOW MUCH GOD LOVES US. A look at the cross does tell us much about suffering and pain, but also it shows us much more about love and freedom. It tells us much more about life than it does about death.
Unfortunately, it is possible for us to be so use to our symbols that we don't see them anymore. And even worse, how many of us have grown so use to hearing about the death of Jesus that it simply does not seem real to us, or we just don't take the time to pray about it.
This feast of the exaltation of the holy cross began nearly 1700 years ago in Rome. The emperor was Constantine. He was not a Christian. He had killed many Christians. He was fighting a war for Rome and he was losing. But then he had a vision of the Cross which appeared with the words: In this sign you shall conquer. He kept the cross in his memory, won the war and became a Christian. In so doing he also ended the persecution against the followers of Jesus.
This feast is celebrated always on September fourteenth. It is believed that St. Helen, the mother of Constantine while on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 326, found a piece of the “True Cross” on September fourteenth. The feast became important when it was believed that the “True Cross” was returned from Persia to Jerusalem in the seventh century after its having been stolen.
The cross, however, can be a contradiction. How could dying save people? Because of this, the cross did not immediately become a symbol for Christianity. The cross was an instrument of torture and death for slaves, traitors, and criminals. It was a humiliating death to hang naked for everyone to see. How could people wear such a symbol on a chain around their necks, or place it on the walls of their kitchens and living rooms?
But it became a symbol of love. We are told that Jesus was obedient unto death, death on a cross. For God so loved the world that he gave his only son. So after a few centuries the cross became the symbol - not of death - but of love. By dying on the cross Jesus took away our sins, so that we would not have to die for them.
The good news of today's gospel is that God loves us, and God loves us right now. And that love is extended to us and shown by Christ through his cross. God had no way of showing us his love other than inviting his son to show that love by dying that we might live again after we have fallen. Our bible reading today tells us that Jesus came into the world, not to condemn us but that we might be saved through him.
Pray before the cross. Pray the stations of the cross. At Baptism a sign of the cross was placed on our foreheads. Our Parents and God parents were invited to do the same. Make sure that a crucifix is seen prominently throughout your home. Parents should point out to their children why you have these crucifixes. Let the image of the suffering Jesus heal you of pain of any kind: physical, emotional and spiritual. Let us chose the cross out of love for the one who died on it. It is our ladder, our bridge, our anchor and our badge of belonging to Jesus Christ. The cross "is not only the symbol of your life in God and your salvation, but also ... the silent witness of human suffering and the unique and priceless expression of all our hopes.
We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you,
Because by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.