Welcome
Home
Holy
Mass
The
Sacraments
Faith
Formation
Parish
Life
What's
New
This
Week
More
Treasures
Contact
Us !
|
Triumph
of the Holy Cross
by Rev. Nicholas Cirillo
September 14
The Feast of the Triumph of the Holy
Cross commemorates the victory that Our Lord accomplished
through his death and resurrection. The cross is a mark of great suffering
and humiliation, but it is a horrific symbol which we adore because
through it we have come to know the great love that Jesus has for
us, and through the wounds that it inflicted, we have been healed.
The Cross of Jesus Christ was found in the
fourth century by St. Helena, the mother of the Emperor Constantine.
According to the legend, a goodly Jew named Judah was the only person
who knew of the location of the cross. Under pressure from St. Helena,
he revealed that it had been buried under the temple of Venus which
had been built by Emperor Hadrian at Golgotha. As she found three
crosses buried at the site, it seemed impossible to determine which
one was the cross of Christ. Just then a funeral procession was passing
by the place, and Helen had all three of the crosses brought to the
side of the dead body. When the third cross was placed upon the dead
man, he rose to life, confirming that this was indeed the life-giving
cross of Jesus.
There are probably hundreds of legends and
stories that are attached to the finding and veneration of the cross
(each with a hundred variations), and all of them seek to remind us
of how dearly we value the sacrifice the Jesus made by carrying it.
The cross is the burden that he lifted when he walked among us, it
is the symbol of his suffering, it is the altar on which he as our
high priest offered himself as the sweetest victim. It is the weapon
by which the powers of hell are vanquished, it is the bridge between
heaven and earth, and it is the balance on which the price of our
redemption has been measured out.
And so as we honor the cross which Christ
bore for us, we pray that we might find in his example the strength
to bear our own burdens with patience and to triumph over our own
difficulties assisted by strength that comes from above.
|
