The celebration of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross started in 335 when the true cross of Jesus was discovered through the effort of St. Helena and installed in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher on Mt. Calvary. Before Constantine, Christians were reluctant to venerate the cross which was looked upon as an instrument of torture and execution. After Constantine abolished crucifixion, the cross was no longer held as something shameful and repugnant but was venerated as a triumphant symbol of Christ’s victory over sin and death. Constantine himself was among the first to hold this new appreciation of the cross. He attributed his rise to the throne to the vision he had before the crucial battle on the Milvian bridge where he saw a cross blazing in the sky and the accompanying words written, “In hoc signo, vinces” (By this sign, you shall conquer).
The Romans were noted for using the cross as a powerful means of instilling fear and thereby securing control over their subjects. When Spartacus and his fellow slaves rebelled (a hundred years before Christ), 6,000 of them were crucified along the main road leading to Rome as a warning to any attempt at rebellion.
Once dreaded as a thing of fear and shame, today the cross is hoisted as a symbol of love and victory. For the Romans the cross was the greatest deterrent to insubordination and rebellion. Caligula put it coldly, “Oderint dum metuant.” (Let them hate, as long as they fear.)
In contrast, the Christians revere the cross as the greatest manifestation of God’s love for humankind. “No greater love is there than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” (Jn 15:13) Today’s gospel is even more expressive, “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son so that those who believe in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” (Jn 3:16)
The first reading recounts how the people of Israel were saved from the deadly bite of the serpents when they sinned in the desert. They only had to look at the bronze serpent mounted on the pole, and they were healed.
In the gospel Jesus used the image to refer to his crucifixion. “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”
The cross is an essential element in Christian discipleship. “If anyone wants to come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.” (Lk 9:23)
Our daily cross refers to the sufferings and pains that come our way. How about those that are caused by injustice, like the untold sufferings of countless victims of the recent flood-control projects scandal? Are we just to bear them with patient resignation and play martyr to the shameless greed of those involved in the plunder?
Of course not. Jesus himself denounced injustice and the hypocrisy of the leaders in his time. He was unequivocal in taking side with the poor and the marginalized. As baptized, we too are called to carry on the prophetic mission of Christ.
These days, several manifestations of collective indignation and demand for accountability and restoration are being organized throughout the country. While these are all laudable and necessary, today’s feast calls us to something deeper and more essential – to fix our gaze on the crucified Christ.
What does this mean? Today, there is so much blaming and finger-pointing. We blame senators, congressmen, DPWH authorities, and contractors; meanwhile they too blame each other. Everyone claims to be innocent.
The truth is that we are all to blame. We are the ones who elected the same people we now condemn. By taking short-cuts in our transactions with government and business, we too participate in perpetuating a system of patronage which breeds corruption. Our apathy and lack of concern for the common good in the face of gross injustice only reinforce a culture of cover-up and impunity which has become systemic.
On the cross, Jesus made our sins his own, even though he was sinless. He took upon himself the consequence of sin and suffered the most excruciating death. By submitting himself to death, he conquered death itself and won for us the new life of his resurrection.
Today, we are invited to gaze on the crucified Christ. It means to unite ourselves to him on the cross. It means to own up to our sins and to die to them. Only when we put to death our own sinfulness, self-centeredness, entitlement, apathy and greed can we be saved and live the new life of grace.
“[When] I am crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” (Gal 2:20)