This Sermon is prepared by
Rev.Fr.Peter Jayakanthan sss
Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament
Corpus Christi Catholic Church,
Houston, Texas, US
24th Sunday of Ordinary TimeCross….The Shouldering Solidarity ….of Divine with Human!Nu21:4-9; Phili2:6-11; Jn3:13-17Dear Sisters, Brothers and Children, we are privileged to celebrate the great feast of The Exaltation of the Cross this year on Sunday. We are called to venerate the cross, embrace the cross and encounter God in that Cross with all our human realities. The Cross has been an identification of every Christian from the beginning of Christianity and will be forever. The Eucharistic Celebration of today may alert our conscious effort to meet Jesus when we make the sign of the cross and look at the cross. He is there always to offer shouldering Solidarity.One man felt that he lived very hard. He came to God, told him about his troubles, and asked: - Can I choose another cross for myself? God looked at him smiling, took him to the store of crosses and said: - Let’s choose…….the man looked around, and was surprised: There was a variety of crosses – little, big, medium, heavy and light. After finding the smallest and lightest cross, he came to God and asked: - May I take this one? - Yes, you may, - answered God. – It is your own cross. Why do I look for Small cross or visible cross? Do I want to identify that I am a Christian or Do I wish to be fancy and stylish? The story and history of the cross is not understood well, is not lived out properly and is not witnessed deeply. It is due to the negative view of the cross as the sign of humiliation, suffering and dying of Christ. The feast of the Exaltation of the Cross reminds that the Cross needs to be venerated as a sign of liberation, salvation, victory, triumph and fullness of life. How can we look at the cross as a sign of triumph, while Christians face attack and threat in Iraq, Many left their own houses, property and the land of their cultural identity? They are in street, without, shelter, food and future, were killed, Two journalist were beheaded. Nuns and Priests are abducted in Afghanistan; no one knows their present condition. Just this week, three elderly Zaverian Missionary sisters were killed in Burundi, who selflessly gave their lives as living witnesses to the Cross. Last week, we remembered the bitter memory of 9/11, where innocent victims of violence and brutality suffered and died. There is Political oppression, social suffering, massive killing and public torture in many parts of the world. How can the Cross can be a triumphed sign and message to look up to? We remember the veneration of cross on Good Friday with sorrow in our hearts, recollecting the crucifixion and death of Jesus on the cross. Today we celebrate the triumph of cross, the exaltation and the victory of the cross. This feast is celebrated to commemorate the finding and recovering of he True Cross and to remind us of the constant solidarity of Jesus in our life struggles. The first reading from Numbers titled as wilderness. Israelites were tired of their constant journey. Miriam and Aaron passed away; the book of Numbers is mostly about failure not of victory. The Israelite people were worn-out in their long journey, we can understand why complaining had become their regular outcry. Some become victims to the poisonous fiery snakes. The murmuring and complaining is the killing of God of Yahweh silently. They stopped trusting Yahweh. It happens when we are tired of our sickness, journey and relationship problems. We complain and murmur. The same people now plead for life and protection. Moses, following the command of God to make them realize that Yahweh was, is and will be shouldering with them; Yahweh identifying them as his ‘precious own people’. Looking at the bronze serpent was an invitation for people to be conscious of God’s solidarity in all circumstances. The words of St. Paul from the second reading, “He emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness and found in human appearance” tell us the shouldering solidarity of Jesus with us in all our struggles. He did this out of love. The Gospel words confirm that love through these words, “for God so loved the world that He gave his only son” is the total participation and unification of the Lord with humanity. Here is the history for the celebration with the history of true cross: The disciples buried the body of Jesus in the tomb donated by Nicodemus. As it was customary, the crosses of Jesus and the two thieves were buried in a pit dug close to the tomb. They remained there unnoticed till the fourth century. In the fourth century, while the pagan commander Constantine the Great was in battle with Maxentius for the throne of the Roman Empire, AD 312, some of his Christian soldiers suggested that he pray to the God of the Christians to help him in his battle. In answer to his prayer, the sign of a luminous cross appeared in the sky with the words “IN THIS SIGN YOU WILL CONQUER" inscribed on it. Following this, Constantine won the battle over Maxentius. Indebted to the God of Christians for his victory at the Milvian Bridge, October 28, AD 312, Constantine became a Christian catechumen. The Emperor issued the Edict of Milan (in 313), guaranteeing Christians religious tolerance throughout the Roman Empire. He declared Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire and commanded that the sign of the cross be placed on all the Roman standards and on the shields of all the soldiers. At the request of the Patriarch of Jerusalem who participated in the Synod of Nicaea the Emperor Constantine sent a team to find the true cross. On September 14, AD 327, a team of excavators, led by Constantine’s mother St. Helena, found the True Cross below the temple of Venus at Calvary on which Jesus was crucified. The true cross of Christ was identified among the three by the miraculous healing of a terminally sick lady when touched by the cross of Jesus. The Patriarch of Jerusalem, Makarios, standing on a raised platform, lifted high the cross, “was exalting” it, for all to see. The people fell to their knees, bowing down before the cross and crying out repeatedly: "Lord, have mercy!" To commemorate the finding of the Holy Cross, Constantine built and dedicated two Churches upon Calvary, "Anastasis" and "Golgotha," both within the precincts of the present Church of the Holy Sepulchre. In 355, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross was established in Jerusalem to commemorate St. Helena’s discovery of the true cross of Jesus. In AD 614, Chosroes II, the King of Persia, invaded Syria and Palestine and carried away many of the great treasures of Jerusalem, including the relic of the True Cross. In AD 628, Emperor Heraclius of Constantinople marched into Persia, recaptured the True Cross. He took the cross to Constantinople, then brought it back to Jerusalem on March 21, 630 walking barefoot and wearing sackcloth in penance. On September 14th, the Sacred Cross was restored to its place in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (Anastasis) in Jerusalem. It was to commemorate this great event that the Church of Rome adopted the "Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross" on September 14th. Moltman speaks out that Jesus’ passion and death on the cross is the origin and center of Christian theology. He engaged, involved and participated in our human reality. Another theologian reflects that, ‘this is Jesus’s empathetic solidarity with humanity, Who opts to be on our side. God, who is capable of suffering, should be capable of love too.’ The image of the cross reflects so many, countless crosses of violence, struggles of the concentration camp, humiliations at Auschwitz, and the victims of struggles throughout the world in particular among Christians in Iraq now. Six years ago I was in my religious community during candidate formation. An elderly person, in his late 70’s, came in to our house one afternoon and requested to spend some time in prayer at our chapel. As he came out of the chapel, he asked me whether he could have a small cross for himself. Asking him for the reason of his request, he shared with me that he is a Hindu – Brahmin, and he has been facing many family and personal problems during recent months. He said, “My children deserted us, my wife is fighting cancer and asking me to run away from her. I feel that life is not worth living after this depression, rejection and humiliation. I was educated in Christian institutions, so I always admire the cross-if I have a cross, I know Jesus is present and close to me, shouldering and participating in my struggle so that I am not alone.” This statement from a Hindu was an eye-opener for me. Shall we look and gaze at the cross so that we may journey with the shouldering companionship of Jesus? Are we ready to offer shouldering solidarity with the broken, the poor, the sick and the oppressed? Then we are embracing true cross of victory-Amen. 
|
