T
oday, as we celebrate the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, we are invited to look at the cross as a sign, not of defeat, but as the very place where God’s love shines most brightly.
We do understand the pains of the cross, because we carry it in our daily lives: in our illnesses, in our disappointments, in the burdens that seem too heavy for our shoulders. Often, we are tempted to see only its harshness, its weight, its cruelty. And it is true—the cross was an instrument of torture, of humiliation, of shame. Jesus accepted this suffering, not because he loved pain, but because he desired to have a share in human suffering.
But today’s feast helps us look beyond remaining gazing at Christ’s agony. We are invited to see what God has done through the cross. What was once a symbol of death, that once crushed lives under its weight, now lifts us up, because now, from the one who hung on the cross flows reconciliation, peace, and eternal life.
Obedience and humility of Christ lead to exaltation. In the mystery of the cross, humiliation is transformed into glory, weakness into strength, and abandonment into communion. The cross is no longer the end of the story; rather, it is the beginning of hope.
I have come across parents who, after walking with a child through years of suffering and then losing that child, struggle to live differently. They keep the house exactly as it was, visit the cemetery constantly, and allow grief to shape every part of their lives. Other children in the family often suffer too, growing up in an atmosphere where joy seems forbidden.
These are the people who are most in need of discovering the meaning of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross: that the cross does not only burden us—it lifts us up. It does not crush, but carries and exalts us.
This is why Christians can look upon the cross not with despair, but with trust. When we trace the sign of the cross on our bodies, we are not just making a gesture; we are proclaiming that love is stronger than sin, stronger than death. We are saying with faith: “Lord, I believe in Your love that saves me.”
And this is where John’s Gospel takes us: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life” (John 3:16). The cross is the measure of God’s love. It tells us that we are never abandoned, never forgotten. God has entered into the darkest places of our human condition so that no darkness can overcome us.
Brothers and sisters, let us learn to gaze upon the cross with eyes of faith. Let us bring our wounds, our sins, our fears to the cross, and allow Christ to transform them, because our faith teaches us that beyond every Good Friday, there is Easter morning.
The cross does not crush us—it carries us. It does not close the story—it opens it to eternal life.
Father Josekutty Mathew CMF
