WEDNESDAY
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The Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
Today’s Gospel from St John speaks to us of the heart of the message of Jesus- the heart of our faith:
‘Yes, God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost but may have eternal life.’
Jesus came into our world to show us how much God loves us. We see the greatest sign of God’s love for us when Jesus died on the cross and conquered death in his resurrection. The cross is a lasting sign of how much God loves us.
The Church gives us this feast of the Holy Cross, not to make us think about the cross itself, but rather to think about what the cross symbolises: God’s never endling love for us.
In his great letter on spreading the Gospel in today’s world called, ‘The Joy of the Gospel’, Pope Francis has some words which are worth thinking about on this feast. He says:
‘Standing before him with open hearts, letting him look at us, we see that gaze of love …. How good it is to stand before a crucifix, or on our knees before the Blessed Sacrament, and simply to be in his presence! How much good it does us when he once more touches our lives and impels us to share his new life!’ (The Joy of the Gospel, 264)
Today, it would be good to do what Francis suggests: to make a little extra time, perhaps looking at a crucifix, to be in Jesus’ presence. As we look at the cross, we can think of Jesus looking at us with his endless, unstoppable love.
We do not need to do anything other than to open our hearts and experience how much good it does us when we let Jesus touch our lives and sense him looking at us with love.
There is one little phrase in Pope Francis words, however, that we must not miss:
‘How much good it does us when he once more touches our lives and impels us to share his new life!’
The more we open our hearts to Jesus and let him touch our lives, the more Jesus impels us to share his new life with others.
The Cross comforts us as it reminds us of God’s wonderful love for us. At the same time, the Cross shakes us out of our comfortable position because it challenges us to share God’s love with others.
Pope Francis even suggested:
‘If we do not feel an intense desire to share this love, we need to pray insistently that he [Jesus] will once more touch our hearts.’ (Evangelii Gaudium, 264)