Homily for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

Back in the time of Jesus, no one thought of crucifixion as an exaltation of any kind. Yet, the Cross on which Jesus was executed is exactly what the Church celebrates today. In the terrible time of being crucified, Jesus was victorious. It was the highest triumph of love over hatred. As Saint John says, “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son.” Jesus revealed God’s love in all that He said and did, but He revealed God’s love most fully as he hung on the Cross.

For the apostle St. Paul, the Cross of Christ reveals the power and wisdom of God. Shortly before Good Friday Jesus foresaw His crucifixion as the hour when He would be glorified. Authentic love is always life-giving and that is extraordinarily so of God’s love. The Cross is both the triumph of love over hatred and the triumph of life over death. Jesus’ execution on the Cross was cruel, but through His death He passed over into a new life — a life now offered to us all. The blood and water from the side of Jesus speaks to us of the life that flows through the death of Jesus.

The Cross is celebrated in Christian art as the Tree of Life. The triumph, the exaltation, of the cross, which is the triumph of God and of Jesus over Satan and all the forces of evil and death; it is a triumph in which we all share. From the Cross Jesus draws all of us into the love and life of God. As He said in John’s gospel, “When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.”[1] We simply have to let ourselves be drawn by Him. + 

[1] John 12:32