20250914 Exaltation of the Holy Cross

Readings at USCCB.org | https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/091425.cfm

The Definitions of Exaltation

When I was a child, preparing for first communion, I was taught by my parents and my teachers to pray to God as Jesus. I was taught to use formal prayers, like the Lord's Prayer but also to pray informally, like in conversation with a beloved family member. I remember having those conversational prayers, imagining talking to the Jesus welcoming children depicted in my children's bible or to the Resurrected Jesus that we have at Saint Anne. That is the faith that I was taught by my parents and grandparents, who were taught by their parents and grandparents.

Over the past few Sundays, the second reading have been from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Hebrews. It is hard to understand the important point those readings were making because Saint Paul was writing to an audience of people who were taught that God was one to be feared and respected; that God was distant and separate; that we humans could not survive seeing God's face with our eyes nor hear God's voice with our ears. Saint Paul was writing to an audience who were recently converted to Christianity and wanted them to appreciate and celebrate that the God that Jesus came to earth to teach us to pray to is a God to be loved; a God who is near and with us always; a God who, with the Holy Spirit in each of us, can be seen when we look in the mirror or when we look at every person around us.

This Sunday, we celebrate the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. There are three dictionary definitions of exaltation:
1 a feeling or state of extreme happiness: she beams with exaltation.
2 the action of elevating someone in rank, power, or character: the resurrection and exaltation of Christ.
3 the action of praising someone or something highly: the exaltation of the army as a place for brotherhood.

I love how the second dictionary example speaks to our readings today.

The first reading tells the story of how God told Moses to put a bronze serpent on a pole and lift it up so that those who were bitten by poisonous serpents would live. (By the way, that is why serpents are used on modern medical symbols.) In the Gospel reading, Jesus says, "Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life."

The second reading, from Saint Paul's letter to the Philippians, puts it all together for us. Paul starts by stating that Jesus is God, points out that Jesus became human like us and died on the cross for us, for which God the Creator lifted up Jesus in rank and power.

Rather, he emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
coming in human likeness;
and found human in appearance,
he humbled himself,
becoming obedient to death,
even death on a cross.
Because of this, God greatly exalted him...

So, this Sunday, the first and third definitions of exaltation apply to me because of the second definition: I am in a state of extreme happiness in praise of Jesus for coming to earth, for being a God who died for our sins, for being raised up above all others. May we always know this love and share it with those around us. Amen.

--Alfred