The Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross – C
September 14, 2025 8:30am
Our Lady of Grace Parish, Bel Air
The Exaltation
Today’s celebration – the Exaltation of the Holy Cross – finds its origin 1700 years ago.
History tells us that Saint Helena, the mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine, found the cross on which Jesus himself was crucified. She found this in Jerusalem in the year 326.
Helena’s son, Constantine, then had a church built on this site where the cross was found. The church was opened in the year 335.
And on September 14 of that year, the cross was lifted up or exalted for everyone to venerate. Eventually this feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross became a part of the Roman liturgy on September 14 of every year.
Why a Crucifix?
Now we all know that the cross is our central Christian symbol.
Above and beyond anything else, it speaks of Jesus and of what he has done for us. We also know that in our Catholic churches we have a cross with the image of the crucified Jesus on it.
We call this a crucifix. Why do we have a crucifix?
It reminds us, first, of Christ’s sacrifice of himself. And then it also expresses something important about the Mass – that the Mass is also a sacrifice.
A Sacrifice – Part 1
First, we believe that Jesus gives himself for us fully on the cross.
Saint Paul in today’s second reading says, “He emptied himself.” Saint John in the gospel gives the motivation for this: “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son.”
In Old Testament times, people would sacrifice an animal. It may have been a goat or a bird or especially a lamb.
This is very foreign to us, but it was the ancient practice. They would sacrifice this animal to God for forgiveness of their sins.
Now, in contrast to this, Jesus, on the cross, makes a sacrifice of himself. This is why we praise him in the Mass as “the Lamb of God” – the new lamb replacing the lambs of Old Testament times.
Jesus does this for our forgiveness and our reconciliation with God. And of course, because of 1) who he is as the Son of God and 2) what he does in the giving of himself, this is now the perfect sacrifice – there can be none greater.
A Sacramental Sacrifice – Part 2
Then, there is the Mass.
The night before his crucifixion, Jesus gives us something special. He takes the bread and wine and says: “This is my body” and “This is my blood,” and very importantly, he adds: “Do this in memory of me.”
So, Jesus gives us a way to remember and make present over and over again his sacrifice on the cross. We call this a sacrament.
Jesus intends these signs of bread and wine to make his sacrifice and himself really present here and now. This is a sacramental sacrifice.
Jesus tells us to do this not because his sacrifice is imperfect. Rather, we do this because we are imperfect.
So, Jesus invites us to receive the consecrated bread and wine, his body and blood. This gift of Communion brings us a closeness with him and allows the love that we see in Jesus on the cross to enter us more and more fully.
The Sacrifice and Sacramental Sacrifice
So, as we look upon the crucifix, let’s allow this to speak to us of Jesus’ sacrifice of himself and of the sacramental sacrifice that he has given us.
