September 14
Exaltation Of The Cross
Preparation. - “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth,” said our divine Saviour, “I will draw all things to Myself” (John 12. 32). He was speaking of His death on the tree of the Cross. We shall consider tomorrow, first, what the Cross is for Jesus, and secondly, what it ought to be for us. We shall then resolve to venerate and love the Cross, the crucifix, wherever we see it, since it recalls to us the mystery of a God, who died to restore life to us and to draw us to Himself. “And I, if I be lifted up, will draw all things to Myself.”
I. What The Cross Is For Jesus
During His agony on Calvary the Redeemer seemed to be the weakest of mortals and to succumb to the hatred of His enemies. But at that very hour the sacred wood on which He was expiring, became the mysterious instrument of His power, which was triumphing over death, hell and sin, appeasing the divine justice, reconciling heaven with the earth, and opening to us the gates of the blissful eternity. Moreover, Jesus made it the instrument of His conquest of souls. According to St. Paul, the word of the Cross was preached in the whole universe (1 Cor. 1. 18). As a double-edged sword (Hebr. 4. 12), it separates on earth virtue from vice, the chaste, patient and enlightened generation from the impure, cruel and idolatrous race. It founded among the nations the spiritual kingdom of Jesus Christ.
Wherefore all who practice the Saviour's teachings are the disciples and soldiers of the Cross; those walk under its standard, who understand this saying of their Chief: “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, carry his cross and follow Me” (Luke 9. 23). Happy will they be, if obeying this maxim, this cry of war and of rally, they conquer their passions to the last, patiently endure the trials of this life and walk in the Saviour's steps by practicing every virtue! They will one day take their place in the chosen ranks of the guard of the King of glory, when He will return on the clouds of heaven, bearing His Cross as the scepter of His power to judge the living and the dead. At this sight the sinners and the enemies of the Christian name will utter cries of despair; and the disciple of Jesus, on the contrary, will be filled with joy and love.
If we wish to find out whether we shall be among the latter, let us examine whether the Cross, or the mystery of our Redemption, is not for us, at least in practice, a scandal or a folly. Do we not do all in our power to ward off pain? And when our Lord sends us afflictions, do we not break out into complaints, acts of impatience and murmurs? We are only cowardly soldiers of the Cross, who do not even know how to bear silently and calmly the trials inherent in the duties of our state.
O Jesus, help me henceforth to meditate on the great mystery of Thy sufferings, wherein I may learn to bear and even to love my daily crosses. For this intention I will make the Way of the Cross, uniting my heart to Thy Sacred Heart and to that of Thy holy Mother, in order to accept beforehand and generously embrace all the trials and afflictions awaiting me in the future.
II. What The Cross Is For Us
The world is like a stormy sea in which we are sailing in the midst of shoals and other dangers. We need a brilliant lighthouse to indicate perilous places and to enable us happily to reach the harbor. This lighthouse, according to St. John Chrysostom, is the Cross of Jesus. By its light we are enabled to discover the falsehood of worldly maxims, of the vain pretexts of our fallen nature, which refuses to humble itself, to forgive, to obey, to be detached, to mortify itself, and thus precipitates itself into the abyss of sin and damnation. We, the poor passengers on earth, should often raise our eyes to the Redeemer's Cross, and it will show us our pride condemned by His humiliations, our greed, by His poverty, our daintiness, by His pains, our domineering spirit by His entire submission to His executioners.
By allowing himself to be nailed to the Cross, our Saviour procures us the means of doing worthy fruits of penance. His crown of thorns expiates the malice of our bad thoughts, of our intentions lacking uprightness and often vitiated; the bitter gall He tastes is a remedy for our gluttony and intemperance; all the sufferings of His sacred body teach us to shun sensual and earthly pleasures, and induce us to prefer the narrow way of self-denial to the broad road taken by the world, which is so fond of honors, ease and comfort of enjoyment and pleasures.
According to St. John Damascene, we can draw from the Cross the cure of all our ills. And, indeed, what hope of spiritual health and life should we have without the Redemption Christ wrought on this sacred wood? When the Israelites looked at the brazen serpent raised on high by Moses in the desert, they were cured of the bites of the fiery serpent. In like manner, will all the wounds of our souls be healed, if we often meditate on Jesus hanging on the cross.
O my God, prostrate in Thy divine presence, I am resolved frequently to recall the sufferings of Thy adorable Son. Enable me to seek at the foot of His cross, first, the true light that will show me the principles of solid virtue, which do not flatter the passions; secondly, the spirit of penance, which will teach me to follow the steps of Jesus by self-denial, detachment and patience; and thirdly, the abundant graces which will help me to heal my fallen nature and to impart to it the holy inclinations of my Saviour and His Blessed Mother.
