Friday, 14 September was the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross: Holy Cross-link ūnus, Holy Cross-link duo, Wikipedia-link Holy Cross, & Wikipedia-link Feast.
Commentary: Wayback Machine. Quoth the Holy Redeemer bulletin:
The date of the feast marks the dedication of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in 335. This was a two-day festival: although the actual consecration of the church was on 13 September, the cross itself was brought outside the church on 14 September so that the clergy & faithful could pray before the true cross, & all could come forward to venerate it.Wikipedia-link Church
Scripture of That Day
Mass Readings—Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
The Book of Numbers, chapter twenty-one, verses four(b) thru nine;
Psalm Seventy-eight, verses one(b/c) & two, thirty-four & thirty-five, thirty-six & thirty-seven, & thirty-eight;
The Letter to the Philippians, chapter two, verses six thru eleven;
The Gospel according to John, chapter three, verses thirteen thru seventeen.
Commentary: Reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):
Friends, today we celebrate the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. How strange this feast would have sounded to someone in the ancient world! The triumph of the cross! It would have been analogous to someone speaking today of the triumph of the electric chair or the exaltation of the noose.Video reflection by Father Praveen Lakkisetti: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The cross terrified people in Greco-Roman times, and that was the point. The cross was state-sponsored terrorism, a form of capital punishment reserved for those who had in the most egregious ways undermined the authority of the Roman state.
So why in the heck are we celebrating the cross’s triumph? There is only one possible explanation, and that is the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead. All the attempts to soft-pedal and explain away the Resurrection are ruled out by this feast. If Jesus was a victim of that terrible cross tout court, then we should all go home.
Once they had taken in the experience of the Resurrection, the first Christians turned with rapt attention to the cross, convinced that in it they would find something decisive. Somehow, in the strange providence of God, that cross was ingredient in the very process by which God would save the world.
'Twas also the festival of Saint Cormac of Cashel, Bishop (836-908, A.K.A. Cormac mac Cuilennáin), King of Munster: Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.
'Twas also the festival of Saint Notburga of Rattenburg (circa 1265-1313, A.K.A. of Tyrol, of Eben): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.
'Twas also the festival of Saint Louis Gabriel Taurin Dufresse, Bishop & Martyr, M.E.P. (1750-1815, A.K.A. Jean-Gabriel-Taurin Dufresse), martyred in the reign of the Jiaqing Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, one of the Martyr Saints of China: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link China.
Papal Quote o' That Day
"On this day when Catholics around the world celebrate the Triumph of the Cross, the Church invites us to look once again at the meaning of Christian discipleship. She invites us to understand the sacrifices it involves & place all our hope in our Crucified & Risen Savior."Little Flower Quote o' That Day
—Pope St. John Paul II the Great (1920-2005, feast day: 22 October)
"To live on love is not to set up our tent on Tabor. It is to climb Calvary with Jesus & see the Cross as a treasure."Saint Quote o' That Day
—St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church (1873-1897, feast day: 1 October)
"We long for the joy of heaven, where God is. It is within our power to be with Him in heaven even now, to be happy with Him in this very moment. But to be happy with Him now means to help as He helps, to give as He gives, to serve as He serves, to save as He saves, to love as He loves. To be with Him twenty-four house a day, to encounter Him in His most frightening disguise. For He said so: 'What you did to the least of my brethren, you did to Me.'"
—St. Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997, feast day: 5 September)
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