Today we concentrate on the power of the cross in our lives. It is the ultimate demonstration of the nature of God. Christ gave of himself even to death on the cross. This is characteristic, not only of the man Jesus, but of the Godhead. Creation is the first example of divine emptying; redemption is the ultimate example. Unlike Good Friday when we stand before the stark cross and mourn the death of our innocent messiah, today we stand before the glorious cross and praise God for God’s incomprehensible goodness toward us. God’s graciousness is poured out indiscriminately, prodigally as only profound love can be given. Such is the nature of our God, and the cross is the symbol of this nature.
Jesus compares the pole in the wilderness on which was fixed the serpent to the cross which becomes the source of our healing. It was through the cross that Jesus conquered sin and death and won for us access to God. It is through the cross that we die to sin and rise to new life in Christ. As painful as life’s crosses may be, they serve to transform us. It can be our hope in the midst of pain and suffering and brokenness, because it promises to carry us into new life.
Through the goodness of God, which has been poured out for us, we have been granted eternal life. It is incomprehensible to think that death is the way to life, but that is the message of this feast. The cross, which is a sign of shame and misery, is now a symbol of glory and exaltation.
© Dianne Bergant CSA, https://www.liturgyhelp.com/calendar/date/2025Sep14/0/RefDiBer