The Glorious Cross of Jesus : 14th September

« No one has gone up to heaven except the one who came down from heaven, the Son of man ; as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so must the Son of man be lifted up so that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him. »

The cross we celebrate today is the’ glorious cross’. The cross we contemplate is not first and foremost an instrument of supplication, the place where Christ suffered, but rather the cross in its glorious aspect, the cross as a motive of a reality to be proud about. By celebrating ’the exaltation’ of the Cross’ we celebrate the One who was raised up to the Glory of the Father through the total gift he made of himself for our salvation. The word ’exaltation’ comes from the latin word ’altus’, ’high’, which designates both at the same time the physical elevation of the suffering body by Jesus, and also the elevation of Chrsit in the Glory of the Resurrection. The « exaltation » of the Cross or the « Glorious Cross » has us contemplate the victory of Christ over the forces of Evil, the elevation of Him next to the Father of all our humanity, finally freed of sin and of death. And so the glorious cross becomes the sign of the définitive reconciliation between God and mankind, the sign of the victory of Life, over death. Eternal life, is the Infinite Love of God that we welcome through faith. It is in the night of faith that we touch the mystery of the Compassion of Mary whom we join at the foot of the Cross, where Jesus is raised up. When we are in a state of distress, we need one another.We rememorate Jeus’ glorious cross in all those people throughout the world who are persecuted. We turn towards those who are ’taken up ’with sufferinng and we ask for them Jesus’ patience and perserverance ! It is difficult to make the link between the Cross of Jesus, ’the exaltation of the Cross’ and the manifestation of his love for us ! Out of love for us, Jesus gave Life, he saved us by His Cross.

« For this is how God loved the world : he gave his onl Son so that those who believe in Him may not perish but may have eternal life. »

In a world where he have a hard time finding our bearings and one that remain stable,in a world where we have a hard time finding credible witnesses of God’s Love, where the culture of death invades our daily lives and wants to impose itself upon us as a refernce,the message of the glorious cross, the definbitive victory of Christ over Evil, over sin, lies, and all forces of death,

comes and resounds in our heart like a call to go beyond this, a call to believe that with Christ, everything is possible.The God of Love is the most beautiful Revelation that we can know of God, who gave his Only Soin order to save us. There is an incredible message in the contemplation of the Glorious Cross. This Love is totally gratuitous,it is the Revelation of a Love that is totolly gratuitous between the Father and the Son.It is Love given to us in the Person of the Holy Spirit. It is in this Love that as we follow Jeuss, we can also give our lives. It is out of Love that Jesus dies on the Cross in order to deeply transform humanity ’My life, no one takes it, it is me who gives it, ’said Jesus. ’God has so loved the world that he gave us his Only Son so that anyone who believed in Him would be saved.«  »For God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but so that through him the world might be saved."

We can suffer from thedistance which exists between our innr world where God’s Infinite Love lives, which can indeed be idealistic, and the world we discover in the real one that is obscure and hard to understand,perhaps a world that is too realistic ! We celebrate God’s Infiinite Love, victorious over evil ! Evil is what is opposed to love ans there is only Love that can overcome evil. The life that opens up to us is infinite our wildest dreams can come about,and yet at the same time we expreience our doubts, our incertitudes. Jesus’ Cross is glorious. The more we thirst for Light and Truth, the more we join the Martyrs, who, following Jesus, held out strongly right to the end, through Him. Jesus came to save us, he descended down into death, and death on a cross : ’Cursed is the one who dies on the cross.’, says the Word ! By Jesus’ cross, we enter into the mystery of Love, sure to encounter him since the door to the way in, is this love which is victorious over all evil. Faced with this Love, every creature falls on their knees ! Thus we enter into the Passion of the Son, the greatest Love of Jesus for the Father and for us. It is Eternal Life, the Love of God spread out in our hearts : ’God is Love.’