September 14, 2008

"Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings when the dawn is still dark." -- Tagore

This week we celebrate the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The origin of the feast is linked to the discovery of the true cross by St. Helena on September 14, 320. It became customary in those churches that had a major relic of the cross to show it to the faithful on this date in a ceremony called the Exaltation (or lifting-up), which gave us the name of the feast today.

There are many kinds of crosses - different shapes and made of wood, glass, various metals, and gemstones. The Cross to us can be a symbol of suffering, sacrifice, and salvation. In the early church, the fish was a Christian symbol because the cross was considered too horrible to think about. They used the fish because in Greek, the letters of the word "fish" spelled out Jesus Christ, God's Son, Savior.

Eventually the cross became a Christian symbol, representing salvation, victory, reconciliation, and new life. When we exalt the cross, we celebrate our God who loves us and by Jesus' resurrection shows us there is more to life than just our earthly existence. The cross also teaches us that we will suffer at times, but that through suffering, we learn more about God and ourselves.

One meditation on the Cross suggest that the vertical pole represents our relationship to God and the horizontal one, our relationships with each other. When we wear a cross, we are celebrating our God and who we are as Christians. We can offer up our daily "crosses" for people and bring them new life. Jesus did not come to fix us so God would love us; Jesus came to show us how much God does love us.