Yesterday, September 14th, we celebrated the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. It was on this date, in the year 335, that the relics of the true Cross, that had been lost, had been miraculously rediscovered nine years earlier. Today (in 335) the relics were brought outside the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem for public veneration. Because September 14 falls on a Sunday an average only once every seven years, only daily communicants regularly celebrate this feast liturgically. But we’re all called to celebrate this feast, allowing its meaning to penetrate our daily life. In order to do so, however, we first need to grasp better the shocking aspect of what we’re doing.
Most of us have marked ourselves with a cross with a holy water cross upon entering the Church. We start almost every prayer with the sign of the Cross. All types of people wear a symbol of a cross, in some shape, around their necks, our bedrooms and dining rooms often have one on display. The priest holds his arms in the shape of it during the Eucharistic prayer. It the focal point in Catholic Church. For believers the Cross is not so much a symbol of pain as it is a reminder of the Love that Jesus has for us. Christ on the cross manifests the power of Christ’s love and they wisdom of God’s plan of salvation. In 2014 Pope Francis reminded us the Cross of seems to declare the failure of Jesus, but in reality, but in reality, it marks His victory.
In commemoration of this day, I invite you the slowly and meditatively (perhaps spread over a few days) the Divine Mercy Stations of the Cross.
The conversations are from the Diary of Saint Faustina Kowalska.
The silent soul is capable of attaining the closest union with God.”
~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB
In the Name of the Father,
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit
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