There has been a lot of horror lately, but this Sunday we remember to exult the cross.
“Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert,
so must the Son of Man be lifted up.”
This has been an insane month or so of events in the world. Multiple political assassinations, senseless public killing, and violence where kids should feel safe are all causing people to get upset around our country.
It is upsetting.
Exultation of the Holy Cross: Looking at Horror
This coming Sunday, September 14th, is the Feast of the Exultation of the Holy Cross.
On this day we look at something horrific and realize that we are loved. We understand through the cross that life is hard, but that it is good. Through the cross we can see hatred harnessed for the purpose of greater love.
Just as God asked Moses to lift up a serpent on a pole so that all who were injured by snakes would be healed up on seeing it, we who have been hurt by a fallen world can look at it and see our healing. This healing can come through Christ and trying to embrace the suffering of the cross.
Harnessing the Hatred for Love
How can we look at the world events lately and use them for love?
Can we be more thankful for those in our lives: our families, our friends, communities?
Feelings are Not Political
With each event this past month, I see people online comparing them. They are comparing the events as well as the reactions to the events.
I saw several people share frustration that others were not as upset by one shooting over another. To me this is crazy.
Each event and act of horror has affected people in different ways.
A Catholic mother who sends he kids to Catholic school, will feel more reaction from news in Minnesota. An immigrant or someone close to those who have sought refuge might feel more from the tragedy in Charlotte.
It would be right to feel more loss of a loved one than anonymous general dying around the world on a given day. Similarly, it is ok if someone feels more upon learning that the world lost someone who they knew existed than someone they didn’t. How we respond to events may not make them more or less tragic, but it is a reality of how we relate.
What Hit Me Hardest
For me, I am a Catholic father of young kids. The Catholic school violence is shocking and was the first recent event that made me reflect a little more than the standard daily dose of reported violence. We have sadly become somewhat used to hearing the news of these school events though. So when I heard about a father, the same age as me, with a wife and little kids who are probably very confused about the world without him, that hit me hardest.
I’m not saying it is more or less sad or horrific than those who lost their children or parents in any other event. It is only that this was what broke the dam and triggered the flood of reflecting. It was that news that made me pause. I saw a video of his little girl run to him, and it made me want to hold my kids closer and remember it forever.
I saw what First Lady Melania Trump said and it said what I was feeling: these kids would have “stories” where there should be “memories”.
Harmony Hall
Yesterday, I was listening to some music to distract my mind a bit, yet every song had something relevant in it. This one from a few years back, Harmony Hall by Vampire Weekend, stood out the most.
Harmony here can mean getting along as well as people talking at the same time. The getting along is the structure that holds up the halls of society. In our current atmosphere of social media and divided news media, we instead have tension and dissonance where there should be harmony.
“Anger wants a voiceVoices wanna singSingers harmonize‘Til they can’t hear anythingI thought that I was freeFrom all that questionin’But every time a problem endsAnother one begins.
And the stone walls of Harmony Hall bear witnessAnybody with a worried mind can never forgive the sightOf wicked snakes inside a place you thought was dignifiedI don’t wanna live like thisBut I don’t wanna die”
There are a lot of snakes in this public discourse that should be dignified. There are many new problems beginning right where the other one ends. Lastly, there are too many angry people wanting to sing. If we don’t want to live like this, but we want to live, maybe we should tune out for a bit and try not to shout at each other through computers.
What’s Wrong with the World?
As always, Fr. Mike Schmitz has some good words. “What’s wrong with the world? It’s broken.” He says, “It’s not the end. It’s not over yet. Have hope.”
Looking at Horror: Exult the Cross
Final thought, when looking at horror, remember to exult the Cross. Lift it high. Remember the horror of Calvary and how much God loves us to give us free will.
That free will allows a lot of chaos, but it also allows us to choose harmony, to choose love, and to choose Him.
When you hear the readings at mass this Sunday, I hope this reflection helps you in some way.
Please pray for our world.
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