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Just an explanation of this feast that we are celebrating today. A huge event happened in the year 70 AD. The Jews had risen up against the Romans and the Romans decided to destroy the city of Jerusalem and the temple. The destruction was huge and the loss of life was massive. The Christians who had been banished from Judaism as a heretical sect continued before the destruction of Jerusalem to venerate the sites associated with Jesus’ life and especially his passion. But they also were distressed at the loss of so much after 70 AD. In the 4th Century, as the Christian faith was becoming more established, a decision was made to find the exact location of things that had been lost after the destruction of Jerusalem, Calvary and the place of the Holy Sepulchre etc. St Helen, the mother of the first Christian emperor, came to Jerusalem to find relics associated with the life of Christ. It was at this time that it was believed in the excavations around the Holy Sepulchre that the true Cross was found. The feast is associated with the date of its finding and also the date of the building and opening of the Church built over the Holy Sepulchre. What then happened to the cross was some of it was brought to Rome but most of the Holy Cross was then stolen by the Persians and only recovered after one of the crusades. The feast was again celebrated as a feast of the recovery of the true Cross and a part of the feast included a moment in which the cross would be brought out for exaltation and veneration. At first the feast was only celebrated at Jerusalem but then was celebrated in Rome and in other different parts of the church. The feast in the first times was regarded to be very important, on a par with the Epiphany and Easter. It was later on that we split the feast and on Good Friday, we venerate the Cross that was normally associated with this day. In those early days the Christians were very sensitive and mindful of the words of scripture not to worship graven images. They belonged to a world in which people worshipped graven images, God was the statue, the golden calf and so on. But they were very careful not to fall into these practices but remained very interested in things associated with Our Lord’s life. The greatest of these things was the cross on which our Lord died and saved the world. What a great thing, they thought, if we could discover that, touch that, be near it, what graces we could experience. From the earliest days of the Church the Cross has always been seen as important. It was seen not as defeat but as triumph. Not something to be hidden away but something to be held up. Something that could be part of your house, something that would be part of the church, something that could be worn because it connected us with the love of God, he who came not to condemn the world but to save it. Today is a reminder to hold up the cross and not hide it away. Give it a place of honour, not to be ashamed of it. It expresses everything that we believe about the love of God in his son Jesus Christ. We can only imagine what excitement must have been associated with its discovery, and the place that he was buried, and the recovery of the cross from the Persians. We understand it because to look at the cross gives us great peace. That he died in the cross for me and you, not to condemn the world but to save it. Prayers of the Faithful Exaltation of the Cross Priest Christ our saviour died on the Cross for us. We ask the eternal son of God, who came on earth as man and who died for us, to intercede for the his Church on earth and for all men and women who yearn to know the living and true God Intercessor For Pope Benedict who is visiting Lourdes at this time, that his prayers and the prayers of all who are pilgrims may bring healing to the sick and peace to the troubled. We pray to the Lord We pray for those who are caught up in storms at this time of year especially the people of Haiti, Cuba and the United States – for the people who have lost their lives and those who have lost their homes. We pray to the Lord For those who seek God in their lives, that the Cross may bring people to faith, and also renew and strengthen all of us. We pray to the Lord For a greater respect for human life and the great gift that God has given to us We pray to the Lord For all who have died and all those whose anniversaries occur at this time, especially all those that we have been asked to pray for. We pray to the Lord Priest God of mercy and compassion look kindly on all our intercessions and through the merits of the prayers of your divine Son answer all our needs. Top Comment on this Homily |