Your Exaltation on the Cross

Today we exalt the Cross of Christ. The liturgy brings us back to Holy Week but, while the Cross was a reminder of the tortures of Our Lord during that season, on this day we rejoice in its glory. The instrument of Christ’s execution is made sweet to us, because the Cross is our way to Heaven. We are called to be crushed under the Cross as He was, and to shed the last drop of our lives in a humble offering to Him. Our Lord told us that He would draw all things to Himself when He was lifted up. While the tree was the instrument of Adam’s downfall, God chose to use the wood of the tree to represent His mercy in rescuing His people of the Old Testament. In the Christian era the sign of the Cross stood victorious time and again against the forces of darkness in the world. Let us pray that we will be faithful to the Cross, because in the end we will be exalted if we offer the sufferings of our life in union with those of Christ.