Why Do Catholics Celebrate the Exaltation of the Holy Cross?

September 14 is the feast of the Triumph of the Cross. The title of this feast may sound odd. The cross was meant for torture and death. Why would Christians want to exalt it? This celebration honors Jesus Christ and His saving love on the Cross. It does not glorify cruelty or pain for its own sake.

Crucifixion was a humiliating and painful method of public execution in the Roman world. Jesus freely submitted to it, offering His life in obedience and love for the salvation of everyone. The Catechism teaches that Christ’s love “to the end” gives His sacrifice its saving power. His Cross and Resurrection reconcile us to the Father and destroy the power of sin and death. What seemed like defeat became Christ’s victory, a victory He shares with us.

The Gospel for this feast recalls the bronze serpent that Moses lifted up in the wilderness. Those who had been bitten and looked at it lived. Jesus tells Nicodemus that just as Moses lifted up the serpent, so the Son of Man must be lifted up. Those who believe in Him will have eternal life. The Cross shows how much God loves the world. He sent His Son into the world to save us, not to condemn us.

This feast has its roots in fourth-century Jerusalem. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was dedicated on September 13, 335. The Cross was raised for public veneration the following day. Christian tradition connects these events with Saint Helena and the discovery of the relic of the True Cross. Exaltation means lifting up. On this feast, the Church directs our eyes to Christ and what He did for us on the Cross.

Jesus also commands His disciples to take up their cross and follow Him. This doesn’t mean that we should seek out suffering or demand that people suffer. It means remaining faithful to Jesus when love, truth, forgiveness, or simple duty requires something of us. We can offer the sufferings we cannot avoid to God in union with Jesus and ask Him to teach us how to carry them with faith.

Take a few minutes this week to stop in front of a crucifix. Thank Jesus for loving us to the end and hand Him one burden that you are carrying. Ask Him to give you the grace to carry that burden with Him and with hope in the joy of His Resurrection.

Catechism Connection: Numbers 21:4b–9; Philippians 2:6–11; John 3:13–17; CCC nos. 616–618.

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