Exaltation of the Cross
Until recently, the electric chair was the tool of choice for execution.
The film "The Green Mile"
depicts the violent torture of this method of killing individuals.
We are so used to seeing the cross on our persons
or high above our churches,
or at the head of a procession
that we easily miss the irony of this feast.
We are exalting a vicious instrument of execution.
The Romans inherited this "tool" of torture from the Persians
and they used it extensively.
Crucifixion was such a humiliating and horrible form of death
that Roman citizens could not be put to death on a cross.
Crucifixion was reserved for slaves
and those who had committed treason or brutal crimes.
After being beaten and tortured,
victims were stripped naked,
their clothing given to the soldiers.
Death was agonizingly slow,
usually resulting from hunger and thirst.
Why would anyone who could escape such a death,
accept, indeed embrace it?
Only God.
Only God who so loved the world,
that he gave His only Son,
that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
Only a Son who was willing to empty himself
and completely embrace the human condition.
Jesus is not a tourist,
here for a while, then off again.
He dwells with us.
This Son embraces this terrible death on a cross
out of love for all human beings and for the creation,
In common parlance,
the meaning of the word "love" is pretty slippery.
We use the word to describe our affection for sausage and pepperoni pizza
as well as to describe our most significant relationships.
I think that we all know what real love looks like -
the love between spouses that has been tested
by trials and hardships and has met these challenges;
the love of parents for their children,
a love that is self-giving,
at once gentle and affirming
and at other times, tough, direct and insistent.
Or the love of a pastor for parishioners
a self-giving love that nurtures and challenges,
a love that helps people carry their own crosses.
Or the love between good friends,
a love that is durable and reliable,
yet never enables destructive paths,
a love that is honest and willing to risk.
This is the love that Jesus has for us,
a love that is so strong that he will do anything for us,
even die on a cross.
This should not be a surprise to us.
Jesus is telling us something fundamental about who God is.
Jesus does this because that is the way God is.
We have to test every idea of who we think God is with the cross.
The cross has become the symbol of this total gift of self.
Ironically, the cross, this horrible tool of execution,
has become a symbol for God's presence in the midst of pain and humiliation.
There are those who wear gold and silver crosses as adornment
and it is merely a fashion statement.
For us, who are being saved by the cross,
it is a symbol of the healing and forgiveness won for us by Jesus.
It is a path to new life,
because it teaches us to embrace the human condition
as completely as Jesus did.
The cross is a symbol of self-emptying love
that has the power to transform our lives.
Abbot John Klassen, OSB
September 14 , 2003
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