On our last days (9)

[rich]

On our last days (9)

9. Keep thyself as a stranger and a pilgrim upon the earth, to whom
the things of the world appertain not. Keep thine heart free, and
lifted up towards God, for here have we no continuing city. (Hebrews
xiii. 14.) To Him direct thy daily prayers with crying and tears,
that thy spirit may be found worthy to pass happily after death unto
its Lord. Amen.

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September 14th - The Exaltation of the Holy Cross

You know that in ancient times the cross was an instrument of torment.
It was ignominious for any person to be crucified. It was a dishonor
for the person as well as for his family. Aware of this, St. Paul
asked not to be crucified because he was a Roman citizen, and Roman
citizens were not subject to crucifixion. He was beheaded with a sword
because this was a privilege of the Romans.

When Our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified, therefore, he suffered a
terrible humiliation. That shame was meant to signify that He was a
bandit, an outlaw of the same genre of the two thieves with whom He
was crucified. In this sense the crucifixion was not only a
humiliation, but the highest possible humiliation for any honest man.

You know that the Jews inflicted every humiliation they could upon Our
Lord during His life. This corresponded to their increasing hatred for
the good He represented. Finally they served to Him the supreme
humiliation, which was the sacrifice of the Cross. With this they
became the Deicide people.

Their desire to humiliate Our Lord as much as they could became
evident in the Passion. For example, the crown of thorns, the tunic of
the fool, the cane they placed in His hands as a scepter, the persons
who ridiculed Him and spit at Him, etc, express the desire to torment
Him not only in His Most Sacred Body, but also in His Most Holy Soul.
The Cross of Our Lord became the starting point of all the
humiliations that all Catholics would have to bear until the end times
for the cause of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

The forces of impiety never set aside their weapons against the good.
They are always seeking to humiliate and break the morals of the good.
None of you have been free from these humiliations because of your
fidelity to Our Lord. It is an honor for us. To be persecuted for the
love of Jesus Christ is one of the beatitudes. All of us had suffered
these humiliations and will suffer them to the end of History because
of the continuous outrages the impious ones make against God.

But, in parallel, the honor of God, the honor of Our Lord Jesus
Christ, is vindicated by the Church. Catholics take the Cross as a
symbol of honor, as the most sacred and holy thing we have, as the
symbol of our redemption. Because of this sentiment, on the top of
every Catholic church a Cross is placed; on the top of the most
majestic crowns, the Cross is planted.

Many of the greatest families have the Cross on their coat-of-arms.
Catholic decorations that reward the heroic deeds of a military man or
the generosity of a great benefactor have the shape of the Cross.
These are manifestations of the Catholic spirit which vindicate that
humiliation; they vindicate it with chivalric panache, with
supernatural panache. With this special manifestation of love, that
is, a reaction against the outrage of the enemies, the Catholic Church
celebrates the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.

To exalt the Holy Cross is to glorify it. The word ex-altare in Latin
means to elevate, to raise to a high place, which is to glorify. The
first sign of this was the apparition of the Cross in the sky to
Constantine before the battle of Milvia Bridge. Above that Cross was
written these words In Hoc Signo Vinces--Under the sign of the Cross
you will conquer. That Cross which appeared in the sky for the first
time then would remain on the horizon of all mankind throughout
History, humiliating the evil ones and the devils.

The Cross would also be the sign of our honor. Our honor does not lie
in avoiding humiliations, but in receiving them with panache and a
spirit of challenge. To those who humiliate us, we should respond as
knights and we should glorify the Cross of Our Lord even more
proudly.This is what exaltation means. It is to proclaim the glory of
God in face of the attempt of His enemies to humiliate Him. Our
attitude should smash the enemy's attempts to humiliate Our Lord.

There is an ejaculation in the litany of the rogations, which is this:
Ut inimicus Sanctae Matris Ecclesiae humiliare digneris, Te rogamus
audi nos– That Thou wouldst deign to humiliate the enemies of the Holy
Mother Church, we beseech Thee, hear us. So, the Church teaches us to
pray for the humiliation of our enemies. Therefore, the best way to
respond to the enemies who attempt to humiliate the Cross of Our Lord
and His followers is to humiliate those enemies; it is to humiliate
those who inflict humiliations. Doing this, we rescue the Cross that
lays in the dust of the despised, and raise it to the highest place.
We glorify what had been humiliated. This is the essence of the
exaltation of the Holy Cross.

False and sentimental piety takes an opposite position regarding the
Cross. It never thinks of the counter-attack Catholics should make to
exalt the Cross. The man with this sentimental mentality only
cultivates syrupy sentiments regarding the Cross and if he ever
considers its enemies, it is to flee from them under the pretext that
he is forgiving them. With this mentality the Church will never have
the true exaltation of the Holy Cross. To the contrary, when someone
tries to humiliate the Cross, we must respond with an even stronger
counter-attack. Not in defense of our honor, but in defense of the
honor of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

http://www.traditioninaction.org/SOD/j194sd_ExaltationCross_9-14.html


Saint Quote:
It is not possible ever to exhaust the mind of the Scriptures. It is a
well that has no bottom.
--St. John Chrysostom

Bible Quote
Now those men, when they had seen what a miracle Jesus had done, said:
This is of a truth the prophet, that is to come into the world. (John
6:14) DRB

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Hymn for the Exaltation of the Holy Cross Lift high the Cross

Refrain Lift high the cross, the love of Christ proclaim, Till all the world
adore His sacred Name.

Led on their way by this triumphant sign, The hosts of God in conquering
ranks combine. Refrain

Each newborn servant of the Crucified Bears on the brow the seal of Him Who
died. Refrain

O Lord, once lifted on the glorious tree, As Refrain

So shall our song of triumph ever be: Praise to the Crucified for victory.
Refrain