THE DAUGHTERS EXALT IN THE HOLY CROSS
Posted | 14 September 2023 06:00 CAT
The exaltation of the Holy Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ is the feast by which the Church recalls and proclaims to the world that it raises the symbol of Redemption above all things, lifting it to its rightful and supreme height.
We the Daughters of the Redeemer celebrate this feast with great joy as we have been given the privilege to embrace this Charism and spirituality. The Daughters of the Redeemer are called to “Share intimately and wholeheartedly in the work of redemption through service to the poor”. We are called and consecrated for Redemption. This is our pre-occupation. If we do not participate holistically in redeeming the people of God, then we fall short of our calling. Redemption is the essential gift of the Daughters to the world. The people of God should see the Redeemer in the Daughters.
The Feast reminds us that Our Lord Jesus Christ came to save all humankind through the mystery of the cross. It is in dying that Christ redeemed the world. He redeemed us by accepting death. He endured the agony in the Garden of Olives, the scourging of the Passion, the walking to Calvary and the crucifixion so as to fulfil the mission that had brought Him into the world.
From that moment on, the Cross became the affirmation that we can accept our sufferings, torments and difficulties in order to fulfill God’s designs for us on earth. We have faith that Our Lord Jesus Christ confronts all things and thus following His example of submission to the Divine will, the Cross gives us the courage to embrace suffering, and sacrifice as an act of our fidelity in own vocation.
This fidelity signifies victory in combating war within our souls, in which virtues and sins oppose one another. This battle is the glorification of the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ within us. Carrying the Cross is not only a matter of “patiently enduring daily tribulations, but of bearing with faith and responsibility the toil and suffering that the struggle against evil entails.” In a sense, this battle is the glorification of the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ within us.
This brings about true joy of life which is not found in enjoying pleasures, great or small, or in having plenty to eat and drink, or in any other type of comfort. Genuine satisfaction in life is that sensation of cleanness of soul where we have to look directly at our cross and say “Yes” to it.
The triumph of the Holy cross invites us to be generous, to unite ourselves to Jesus, who wants to grant us the capacity to always live with love and not give in to the consequences of sin. On the Cross, our Lord restores wounded human nature. He accepts the greatest injustice and does not allow resentment, disobedience or hatred to find a place in his human heart.
A Daughter is disturbed to see people suffering, sad, sick or ignorant etc. Her heart is aglow with the desire to help fellow human beings seek and find fullness of the life in the redemption of Christ the Lord.
A Daughter gives up all inclinations so that others can find life. Her call is “To die to give life” and indeed to embrace all sacrifices of the religious vocation. This is obligatory and not an option. Only someone with the strength of God is capable of this. Christ on the Cross “recreates” mankind, enabling us to receive a new life that is given to us in the sacraments.
The cross is the throne from which He reigns and which symbolizes “the victory of love over hate, forgiveness over revenge, service over domination, humility over pride, unity over division.”
In the cross lies the power of His love. Just as in the contemporary world, lovers look with special affection at places or objects related to their loved one: the place where they first met, the photo of a special moment, the gift that accompanied a declaration of love… All these little reminders hold a special value.
The Cross is the place where Jesus has come to seek, with the greatest mercy, a humanity that has strayed. The Cross speaks to us about Christ’s special relationship with each person who opens up their heart to his consolation and forgiveness.
The Daughters indeed Glory in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom is our salvation, life and resurrection, through whom we are saved and delivered. (Gal 6:14).
From the Cross, our Lord continues to draw to Himself a multitude of men and women: “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself (Jn 12:32).” For the Cross is the moment of definitive triumph for Him, the path to win over the hearts He loves so passionately.
As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life (Jn 3:14-15).
In turning our eyes to the Cross, we are reminded of all that Christ has done for us, beginning with the sacrifice that restored God’s life to us.
Let us also beseech Mary Mother of the Redeemer to instill in us that respect, that admiration and that enthusiasm for true suffering and, moreover, that heroic desire to continually exalt the Holy cross around us.