On the 14th of September the Church celebrates Holy Cross Day, ‘The Exaltation of the Cross.’
We have good reason to lift high the cross.
It reveals the love of God for creation - to ransom slaves God gave away his Son.
It is a stark reminder that God’s ways are not ours. We think of suffering as a catastrophe but freely embraced by the Son of God it became the means of our salvation.
Despite appearances to the contrary, it shows that God fulfills his purposes even where we see only suffering, failure and pain. The Holy Spirit who issued from the side of Christ as he died on the cross is always at work in the world, leading us finally back to God, our life and resurrection – through all sufferings and every tragedy.
Prayer
Almighty God,
who in the passion of your blessed Son
made an instrument of painful death
to be for us the means of life and peace:
grant us so to glory in the cross of Christ
that we may gladly suffer for his sake;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Comments