“So, the Son of Man must be lifted up.”

    We are celebrating the Feast of The Exaltation Of The Holy Cross.  Why is the Cross of Christ worthy of   celebrating?  Through the Cross, Jesus restored man’s life with God.  Through the Cross, Jesus used the very means to defeat Satan, that Satan used to drive a wedge between God and man.  It was a tree that led Adam and Eve to commit the Original Sin, eating of its fruit, by disobeying God’s command to not touch that tree. Adam’s disobedience led to mankind’s death, our separation from God. 

God planned, in the fullness of time to reconcile man back to Himself.  It was a tree, the Cross, that let Jesus pay the price to reconcile man’s relationship to God, by dying on that tree, the Cross, obeying God’s will, even to death on a cross.  His death overcame death with Jesus’ Resurrection from the dead. 

The sin of Adam led to mankind’s death; the Resurrection of Christ led to mankind’s life in God.  Jesus embracing His Cross, for us, shows us what we are called to do in this life, to embrace our crosses.   That means different things, but many things for each of us; not the least of which is to love, as we want God to love us, to forgive, as we ask God to forgive us, and to help everyone, that is, to love your   neighbor as yourself, even those who may not understand us, know us, or even like us. 

Love, peace, and joy, this is the life that God calls us to live in Him and Jesus bought that life for us on The Holy Cross.