We bow to Your Cross, O Master,
and we praise Your holy resurrection

This weekend we celebrate another major feast of our Church, the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The servant of God, Andrew Sheptytsky, wrote: The veneration of the Holy Cross of the Lord is one of the most significant aspects of the worship of the God-Man. Signing ourselves with the sign of the Cross is one of the oldest customs of Christians. The Holy Cross is the ultimate symbol of Christ’s victory over Death. Whenever we sign ourselves with the sign of the cross, we profess our faith in our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

Our Epistle reading this weekend is taken from Paul’s first letter to the Church in Corinth. He writes:

The message of the cross is complete absurdity to those who are headed for ruin,
but to us who are experiencing salvation, it is the power of God.

The power of God is manifested in the Cross. Think about the significance of this act of God. He embraced, in the Person of Jesus, the ultimate act of human hatred and violence, crucifixion on a cross, and transformed it into a life-giving act through His willingness to forgive those who thrust it upon Him. He showed humankind that the way to accomplish spiritual growth is to freely embrace the challenges of life and transform them by enduring them. The true power of the Cross is found in Jesus’ voluntary acceptance of it and His willingness to respond to the brutal hatred of others with love. He refused to allow His suffering and the hatred directed toward Him to change the way He chose to live, that is with love for others. He voluntarily endured the suffering that others inflicted upon Him by returning their hatred with love and forgiveness. He demonstrated the transformative power of love and forgiveness.

I truly believe that we, who say that we believe in Jesus Christ, must sincerely consider the lesson He taught us by His voluntary acceptance of the Cross. The Cross demonstrates the power of living like Jesus lived. The Cross is the ultimate summary of all of Jesus’ teaching. It clearly makes real His teaching on how to respond to the challenges of life.

The Cross also makes us keenly aware that human life is never without suffering and challenges. They are interwoven in life in order to help us come to understand the true meaning of life. They are also the only adequate means to bring about personal transformation. Human history shows us that it is only when humans are challenged that they seem to develop the courage and strength to change. When life is without any struggle, people become complacent and embrace self-centered ways of thinking and behaving. Ease of living and luxury don’t have the power to create saints. Jesus exhorts us to take up our crosses and follow Him.