Kathryn Lopez
1.
The Cross of Christ is our Light in the darkness of sin and life's trials
https://t.co/qKjRRIzv2p
— Fr Lawrence Lew OP (@LawrenceOP) September 14, 2015
2. Saint Andrew of Crete explains in the Liturgy of the Hours for today:
We are celebrating the feast of the cross which drove away darkness and brought in the light. As we keep this feast, we are lifted up with the crucified Christ, leaving behind us earth and sin so that we may gain the things above. So great and outstanding a possession is the cross that he who wins it has won a treasure. Rightly could I call this treasure the fairest of all fair things and the costliest, in fact as well as in name, for on it and through it and for its sake the riches of salvation that had been lost were restored to us.
Had there been no cross, Christ could not have been crucified. Had there been no cross, life itself could not have been nailed to the tree. And if life had not been nailed to it, there would be no streams of immortality pouring from Christ’s side, blood and water for the world’s cleansing. The legal bond of our sin would not be cancelled, we should not have attained our freedom, we should not have enjoyed the fruit of the tree of life and the gates of paradise would not stand open. Had there been no cross, death would not have been trodden underfoot, nor hell despoiled.
Therefore, the cross is something wonderfully great and honorable. It is great because through the cross the many noble acts of Christ found their consummation—very many indeed, for both his miracles and his sufferings were fully rewarded with victory. The cross is honorable because it is both the sign of God’s suffering and the trophy of his victory. It stands for his suffering because on it he freely suffered unto death. But it is also his trophy because it was the means by which the devil was wounded and death conquered; the barred gates of hell were smashed, and the cross became the one common salvation of the whole world.
The cross is called Christ’s glory; it is saluted as his triumph. We recognize it as the cup he longed to drink and the climax of the sufferings he endured for our sake. As to the cross being Christ’s glory, listen to his words: Now is the Son of Man glorified, and in him God is glorified, and God will glorify him at once. And again: Father, glorify me with the glory I had with you before the world came to be. And once more: Father, glorify your name. Then a voice came from heaven: I have glorified it and I will glorify it again. Here he speaks of the glory that would accrue to him through the cross. And if you would understand that the cross is Christ’s triumph, hear what he himself also said: When I am lifted up, then I will draw all men to myself. Now you can see that the cross is Christ’s glory and triumph.
3.
"The Lord never sends a Cross that is too dififcult to carry with his help." {My mother} pic.twitter.com/jaeQcoCiJi
— Fr. Willy Raymond (@FrWilly) September 14, 2015
4. A monastery morning prayer podcast.
5. Pope Francis: Jesus torn and bloodied by our sins. This is the path that He took to defeat the serpent in his own camp.
(For more on combatting the serpent, click here.)
6.
Celebrate the feast of the Holy Cross by reading the Old English poem, 'The Dream of the Rood'
http://t.co/PrmBtBRT4G
— Fr Lawrence Lew OP (@LawrenceOP) September 14, 2015
7.
We should glory in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ: in whom is our salvation, life and resurrection (Gal 6:14). #Roodmas #HolyCross
— Fr James Bradley (@FrJamesBradley) September 14, 2015
10. A Franciscan poet by the name of Brother Jacopone da Todi, O.F.M., appears in Magnificat today:
O Sweet Love, you have killed your Beloved,
I beg of you, let me die of Love!
Love, you who led your Lover to such a hard death, why have you done this?
Was it that you did not want me to perish?
Do not spare me, let me die in Love’s embrace.You did not spare him whom you loved so dearly;
Why then be indulgent with me?
Catch me on your hook,
Like fish that cannot get away-
That will be a sign that you love me.
Do not spare me: I long to die drowned in Love.Love is fixed to the cross-
The cross has taken him and will not let him go.
I run and cling to that cross
That my anguish may not drive me mad.
To flee would lead me to despair;
For my name would be cancelled
from the book of Love.O cross, I fix myself to you and cling to you,
That as I die, I may taste Life!
For you are adorned with honeyed Death
And I am wretched not to have tasted you!
O daring soul, impatient for wounds,
May I die heartbroken with Love!I run to the cross and read
Its blood-stained pages–
That is the book that makes me
A doctor of natural philosophy and theology.
O book inscribed with golden letters
And all a bloom with Love!O Love of the Lamb, vaster than any sea,
Who can dare to speak of you?
He who has drowned in you,
And no longer knows where he is;
He to whom folly seems the right path,
Who goes about crazed by Love.
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PLUS:
By the way, do you know Theodore the Studite?
"How splendid the cross of Christ! It brings life, not death…" #dailyeSpiration from Theodore of Studios pic.twitter.com/FC6SlcKKtv
— Steubenville (@go2steubenville) September 14, 2015
Some afternoon additions:
Fr. Steve Grunow: Why Do We Exalt the Cross?
PHOTO: Crucifix based on the image from the Shroud of Turin, from the Basilica Santa Croce, Rome pic.twitter.com/KpXvar6WTE
— Pius Pietrzyk (@PiusOP) September 14, 2015
The holy cross of Christ is the standard of God's armies, of which Mary is Queen, and by the cross she crushes serpents underfoot. -St Cyril
— Chad Pecknold (@ccpecknold) September 14, 2015
This was Love’s great deed, that death should die when Life itself was slain upon the tree. #vespers
— Fr. Patrick Brennan (@Pathound) September 14, 2015
Jesus is the Savior of the world. Listen to Msgr. John Esseff here on the Exaltation of the Cross:
The heart of Jesus is the love of Jesus – a pierced heart overcomes all power in the world. There is nothing more powerful than love. Love is the greatest force in the world. Love is what the heart of Jesus teaches us. Love is what the cross is all about.
The Lord hung upon the cross to wash away our sins in his own blood. How splendid is that blessed cross! #ExaltationoftheHolyCross
— Saint Pauls Outreach (@SPO_National) September 14, 2015
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