Today, Saturday 14 September, we are celebrating the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. We know that the Cross is the instrument by which Christ saved us. That is why the Christian tradition always has handed on this very important short prayer: Ave Crux Spes Unica or in its English rendition “Hail to the Cross, our only hope.”
The Cross is intimately linked to hope. In his general audience of March 31, 2021, Pope Francis said: Christ’s Cross is like a beacon that indicates the port to ships that are still afloat on stormy seas. Christ’s Cross is the sign of hope that does not disappoint; and it tells us that not even one tear, not one sigh is lost in God’s plan of salvation. Let us ask the Lord to grant us the grace to serve him and acknowledge him, and to not allow ourselves to be paid to forget him.
The Cross has been the most revolutionary vehicle thanks to which we were saved. St Paul, in his letter First Letter to the Corinthians tells them: When I came to you, brethren, I did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God in lofty words or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in much fear and trembling; and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power (1 Cor 2:1-4). But why is the Cross the reason for so much weakness, fear and trembling? In the beginning of the same letter Paul affirms: For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God (1 Cor 22-24). What we can conclude from such a bold Pauline claim is that Christ, who is the power and wisdom of God, fills the Cross on which He is crucified with the power and wisdom of God He has had from eternity.
This is the reason for the paramount value of the Cross. But what other saints, mystics and theologians have to add to this principal value of the Cross? Let us have a quick look.
Christ’s Cross has an inestimable value because it is the ladder that takes us to heaven. Hence, St Rose of Lima says: Apart from the cross there is no other ladder by which we may get to heaven. St Theodore the Studite was on the same track when he said: How precious the gift of the cross, how splendid to contemplate! In the cross there is no mingling of good and evil, as in the tree of paradise: it is wholly beautiful to behold and good to taste. The fruit of this tree is not death but life, not darkness but light. This tree does not cast us out of paradise, but opens the way for our return.
Christ’s Cross is so special because it is the privileged seat of the silent Heart of Jesus. St Faustina tells us: In difficult moments, I will fix my gaze upon the silent Heart of Jesus stretched on the Cross, and from the exploding flames of His merciful Heart, will flow down upon me power and strength to keep fighting. St Augustine wisely reminds us that the Cross is the price of Jesus’ redeeming love for us. He said: As they were looking on, so we too gaze on his wounds as he hangs. We see his blood as he dies. We see the price offered by the redeemer, touch the scars of his resurrection. He bows his head, as if to kiss you. His heart is made bare open, as it were, in love to you. His arms are extended that he may embrace you. His whole body is displayed for your redemption. Ponder how great these things are. Let all this be rightly weighed in your mind: as he was once fixed to the cross in every part of his body for you, so he may now be fixed in every part of your soul.
The value of the Cross resides in the fact that it is the sign of the victories of the Christian. St Josemaria Escrivá says: Let us adore the Cross. It is the sign of the Christian, and the sign of Christian victories. Cross and Blood: what must that wood have looked like after the death of our Lord! The Cross was soaked in the Redeemer’s Blood; and so when you see a Cross, think of the Blood of Christ, poured out for you, and don’t deny him what he is asking you for. When we opened our first house, I had a cross put there without the Crucified Christ, as a shout, a cry, a loving act of atonement to our God, an invitation to each of us not to despise the sufferings we may meet in our lives.
The Cross is the dispenser of Christ’s peace for us. St Teresa of Avila tells us: Let us look to the cross and be filled with peace, knowing that Christ has walked this road and walks it now with us and with all our brothers and sisters.
After this brief journey I am led to go back to the number one reason why the Cross of Jesus has an inestimable value, namely that on it lays the body of Jesus, of that Jesus on whom St Teresa of Calcutta wisely writes:
Jesus is the Word made Flesh.
Jesus is the Bread of Life.
Jesus is the Victim offered for our sins on the Cross.
Jesus is the Sacrifice offered at the Holy Mass
For the sins of the world and mine.
Jesus is the Word – to be spoken.
Jesus is the Truth – to be told.
Jesus is the Way – to be walked.
Jesus is the Light – to be lit.
Jesus is the Life – to be lived.
Jesus is the Love – to be loved.
Jesus is the Joy – to be shared.
Jesus is the Sacrifice – to be offered.
Jesus is the Peace – to be given.
Jesus is the Bread of Life – to be eaten.
Jesus is the Hungry – to be fed.
Jesus is the Thirsty – to be satiated.
Jesus is the Naked – to be clothed.
Jesus is the Homeless – to be taken in.
Jesus is the Sick – to be healed.
Jesus is the Lonely – to be loved.
Jesus is the Unwanted – to be wanted.
Jesus is the Leper – to wash his wounds.
Jesus is the Beggar – to give him a smile.
Jesus is the Drunkard – to listen to him.
Jesus is the Retarded – to protect him.
Jesus is the Little One – to embrace him.
Jesus is the Blind – to lead him.
Jesus is the Dumb – to speak for him.
Jesus is the Crippled – to walk with him.
Jesus is the Drug addict – to befriend him.
Jesus is the Prostitute – to remove from danger and befriend.
Jesus is the Prisoner – to be visited.
Jesus is the Old – to be served.
To me –
Jesus is my God.
Jesus is my Spouse.
Jesus is my Life.
Jesus is my only Love.
Jesus is my All in All.
Jesus is my Everything.
Jesus, I love with my whole heart, with my whole being. I have given Him all, even my sings, and he has espoused me to Himself in tenderness and love. Now and for life I am the spouse of my Crucified Spouse. Amen.
That is why we love the Cross because we love this Jesus who died on the Cross to save you and me not just once and for all but also does so in every person who asks of us to care and support him and her. Jesus Crucified is in them too!
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus
while before Your face I humbly kneel and,
with burning soul,
pray and beseech You
to fix deep in my heart lively sentiments
of faith, hope, and charity;
true contrition for my sins,
and a firm purpose of amendment.
While I contemplate,
with great love and tender pity,
Your five most precious wounds,
pondering over them within me
and calling to mind the words which David,
Your prophet, said to You, my Jesus:
“They have pierced My hands and My feet,
they have numbered all My bones.”
Amen.