Dr Jeanette Pinto –
The cross is the victory, the resurrection is the triumph.
There are many ways for Christians to make Jesus known, like carry your Bible, wear jewelry maybe a cross, or your T-shirt with a biblical verse that advertises your faith. Recently, our family placed a beautiful three-dimensional moulded art sculpture at the entrance of our home. It is Ichthys – a Christian symbol (or “Jesus’ fish”). It attracts the attention of every passerby who stops to look at the cross and fish perceived from different angles. The fish was originally adopted by early Christians as a secret symbol. Crosses are used widely in churches, on bibles, in heraldry, in personal jewelry, on hilltops and elsewhere as an attestation or a symbol of Christianity.
The miraculous discovery of the True Cross happened on September 14, 326 AD., by Saint Helena mother of Constantine, while on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. She delivered the relics of the true Holy Cross to the Bishop of Jerusalem who thereafter celebrated the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. This triggered the tradition of celebrating it every year on this day. It recalls three events: The finding of the True Cross of Jesus by St. Helena, the dedication of churches built by Emperor Constantine on the sites of the Holy Sepulchre, and Mount Calvary.
The history of the Feast has its beginnings in
Constantinople where it was the custom to carry the relic of the True Cross through the streets and squares of the city invoking God’s blessing and for relief from sickness. Before the feast as a forecast, the relic was taken out of the Imperial treasury, and laid upon the altar of the “Great Church” (Hagia Sophia) The Feast honours Christ’s Cross, an instrument made sacred by the Lord’s offering of Himself upon it for our salvation. Human misery and God’s salvation meets, this is the beginning of the history of salvation.
In order to celebrate this day appropriately, it could be a great idea for Christians to walk through your home and ensure that each room has a cross or crucifix in it. It’s an old Catholic tradition. Pray the Stations of the Cross, maybe have a special home or community veneration of the cross. Children could be taught to make some fun crafts in the shape of the cross; perhaps decorate an existing cross on the wall and bring extra attention to the cross.
What does the cross teach us? For Christians the cross represents the defining moment in history when God the Creator is reconciled to mankind. Jesus Christ, God in flesh laid down His life as the sacrificial lamb. God chose the cross because it covers the penalty of my sin so that a perfect God can enter my life and make me a new creation without my own physical death.
The current missal only has one feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on September 14. The preface reads: ‘You placed the salvation of the human race on the wood of the Cross so that where death arose, Life might again spring forth and the evil one who conquered on a tree, might likewise on a tree be conquered.’ There are several Feasts of the Cross in the Liturgical calendar all of which commemorate the cross used in the crucifixion of Jesus. Good Friday is dedicated to the passion of Christ and the crucifixion, the other feasts celebrate the cross itself, as the sign of salvation.
The power of the cross is that it reconciles humanity with our Heavenly Father. In Jesus we find forgiveness of sin. He was raised from death to give us a new life in Him. In the risen Lord Jesus, we are a new creation. The Exaltation of the Cross honours Christ’s Cross, an instrument made sacred by the Lord’s offering of Himself upon it for our salvation A famous quote by Leon Morris goes thus: “The cross is the Victory the resurrection is the Triumph. The resurrection is the public display of the victory, the triumph of the crucified one. All of heaven is interested in the cross of Christ, hell afraid of it, while men are the only ones to ignore its meaning.”
In our Coptic church the Feast of the cross is celebrated twice a year. In the Eastern Orthodox Church there is public veneration of the Cross on several feast days. In the Malankara Syrian Orthodox church, a special offering called panchasarayumanda is made on this day in one of the churches in Ernakulam district Kerala.
Evangelisation means bringing the Good News to all strata of humanity, and through its influence transform from within to make it new. It is important for us to “take up your cross…whosoever chooses to save his life will lose it,” Matthew 16:25. So to accept the cross means to accept suffering, rejection, sacrifice, and extreme hardship. Jesus tells us there’s good reason: “What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his very self.” Matthew 16:26. Truly, a beautiful reflection on life’s journey.
Dr. Jeanette Pinto is a retired educator and a member of the Archdiocesan Human Life Committee, Bombay. She also leads a Church ministry for widows at her Parish. She is an author of several inspirational books and articles.