The cross is not glamorous. We can try as much as we want to take away the blood and wounds that were present on that day, but in reality the event of the crucifixion was not glamorous. There is nothing that we can do to make the cross glamorous, but this is rightly so. We cannot allow ourself to begin to glamorize the cross because in the process we will lose the true meaning of salvation that was won for us upon the wood of the cross. In likewise manner our own life is not glamorous. There are plenty of things within this world or in our own life that we would like to take away. No matter how much makeup or surgery that we undergo we will never actually be glamorous because the many wounds that are present within our life will remain, and rightly so. Despite this reality the cross is most beautiful because it presents to us the true meaning of love. It presents to us that despite the brokenness that is found within our world or within our own life that we have been redeemed through this instrument of our salvation.
Today we will have a second collection which draws attention to the pains that can come when one accepts the cross. Our second collection today will be for those many Christians in the Middle East who are being persecuted and even put to death for their faith. We cannot allow ourself to look the other way concerning this matter nor can we begin to speak as if this issue is not of great concern. May we be willing to give any aid that we are able in this matter especially through the prayers and sacrifice that we make in our life. It is hard to fathom that within the world people are still persecuted and put to death for their beliefs. We must join in prayer and offer our sacrifice on their behalf that this persecution and other ones that continue to take place will one day be put to an end. These people have great faith because they have realized that the cross is not glamorous. What they are going through is far from glamorous and yet through the cross we are able to see that all the suffering that they endure is connected to God's mercy which will always prevail in the end.
What we face inside of our own life is far different then what the people in the Middle East are going through, but we are joined to them through the cross. As we heard only a few weeks ago in our gospel: "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me." We join with them because the cross is not glamorous and thus all the nasty stuff taking place within our own life and within our word has been given meaning and hope through the cross. It is easy for us the live and profess our faith when everything around us seems to be perfect, but this is much harder to do once it loses it's glamour. It is hard for us to bear the weight of the cross because when we do we do not find quick comfort. Through the Stations of the Cross we will remember that Christ carried His cross and from its weight He fell on three occasions. We to must behold and bear the many crosses that appear in our life and not run away at those moments when we continue to fall. When we fall or lose hope we must immediately run back to the mercy of Christ that is found through what was offered on the cross.
There is a a stained glass window located at Saint Meinrad, where I attended seminary, that sums up this loving mercy contained within the sacrifice offered upon the cross. In this window we see the tree on which the apple hung where sin entered into the world. Interestingly enough if you look up from this tree we will see that it turns into the wood of the cross on which Christ hung to show triumph over the death that came with this sin that entered into the world. This image sums up the fact that no matter what hardship that we are forced to endure inside of this life that our pains are not made in vain. It shows that the mercy of God is able to triumph over sin if we so desire it to do so in our life. This feast that is celebrated today was added to the liturgical calendar due to Saint Helen finding the true cross in Jerusalem. Legend holds that when this cross was discovered the bishop desired for it to be tested with two other crosses. For the test a woman who was near death touched each cross, but the false ones gave no results while the true cross restored the woman's health.
We celebrate today the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. As this woman's health was restored through her faith in the cross, so are we brought back to health through the mercy that Christ extended to us upon the cross. As sin entered into the world through the tree that Adam and Eve would feast upon we must remember that it was the cross of Christ that would triumph over this tree of sin. When we look around us, what we see is a world that is far from being glamorous, but the cross reminds us that despite this reality that we have been redeemed and are thus oriented towards something greater then the here and now. Through the Holy Cross Christ is lifted up in order that each of us may truly live as those who glanced upon the saraph mounted to a pole that was held my Moses were able to do. The cross is truly not glamorous, but through it we are able to proclaim with great trust: "We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world."
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