The Triumph of the Cross is a celebration of the victory of love as a choice. In the last Supper, he encouraged his disciples to love one another as He has loved them. These are wonderful teachings. We all know, though, that in the concrete reality of everyday life, the commandment to love is better said than done.
Yet when Jesus is finally left hanging on the cross, he makes the ultimate choice to love. In the cross, Jesus shows that his words are not empty. In the cross, he shows that love is not a mere feeling of satisfaction or enjoyment, In the cross, Jesus proves that love has to be freely chosen. And once it has been chosen, it will bear fruit in the salvation of others.
This, then, is the Triumph of the Cross. In the cross, Jesus refuses to bow down to the face of hatred, of condemnation and of self-fulfillment.
In the cross, he proclaims that love, forgiveness and obedience can bring about a victory in life and it is a victory needs to be celebrated. The Feast of the Triumph of the Cross invites Christians to find victory in the daily crosses that they encounter in life.
In front of the cross of making difficult and life-changing decisions, we are invited to go let go of our hesitations and fears and let God take charge. In front of the cross of dealing with difficult people, we are invited to choose love and realize that love does not necessarily mean liking another person or desiring to be with them always.
Christians celebrate the Triumph of the Cross — a symbol of death and pain — because on one such cross there hung the Savior. There lies the real reason for celebrating the triumph of the cross. The cross becomes meaningful only when we find Jesus hanging there. Without Jesus, the cross remains merely a symbol of pain and suffering. With Jesus, it acquires a new meaning of hope, love and life.
With faith in Jesus, they become moments of redemption; they become opportunities for growth; they become moments of true discipleship. Your email address will not be published. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. The cross is the sign of the fullness of life that is ours. At Baptism, too, the Sign of the Cross is used; the priest, parents, and godparents make the sign on the forehead of the child.
A sign made on the forehead is a sign of belonging. By the Sign of the Cross in Baptism, Jesus takes us as his own in a unique way. Today, let us look to the cross often.
Let us make the Sign of the Cross and realize we bring our whole selves to God—our minds, souls, bodies, wills, thoughts, hearts—everything we are and will become. Image credit: Feast of the Cross by Gury Nikitin, Public Domain via Wikimedia. The public veneration of the Cross of Christ originated in the fourth century, according to early accounts, beginning with the miraculous discovery of the cross on September 14, , by Saint Helen, mother of Constantine, while she was on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem - the same day that two churches built at the site of Calvary by Constantine were dedicated.
The observance of the Feast of the Exaltation probably from a Greek word meaning "bringing to light" of the Cross has been celebrated by Christians on September 14 ever since. In the Western Church, the feast came into prominence in the seventh century, apparently inspired by the recovery of a portion of the Cross, said to have been taken from Jerusalem, by the Roman emperor Heraclius in Christians "exalt" the Cross of Christ as the instrument of our salvation. Adoration of the Cross is, thus, adoration of Jesus Christ, the God Man, who suffered and died on this Roman instrument of torture for our redemption from sin and death.
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