Exaltation of the True Cross

Fr. Scott Haynes

Usually, the feasts of the Church celebrate Christ and the Saints, but today we celebrate the Cross. In antiquity, Christians spoke to the Cross as if it were alive, saying, “Rejoice, precious Cross. Help us, O life-giving Cross.”  Why say such things? Does the Cross have ears? Does it have a soul that we should address it as if it were alive? Of course not. Rather in addressing the Cross, we refer our petitions to the gracious power of the one Jesus Christ, who was nailed to the Cross, for there upon the Cross He united all creation into one, and filled all things with His power.

In the Garden of Eden, all things were filled with Divine Life. The grace of God coursed through creation like blood through veins. God’s grace enlivened all things like the sap in a tree, making all things ever new and glorious by the will, power and presence of God. Adam saw and knew this Grace. He rejoiced in the glorious song of creation, which he clearly understood through the Grace, which filled his own nature.

But when Adam, through disobedience fell away from this grace, he became like a vessel full of holes. He could no longer contain the power of God within his nature, and he could not hear the song of praise sung by all creation to its maker. As he had placed himself at enmity with God, so creation was at war with Adam, and thorns and thistles came forth from the earth.

The Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden, which would have made Adam and Eve live forever, was hidden from them after the fall, lest, as St. Gregory says, “the sickness [of sin] should become immortal in them.” For God did not want man’s fall to be permanent like that of the devil and his angels.

God did not wish for man to continue forever in this corrupted and miserable state. Thus, God hid the Tree of Life behind the flaming sword. He did not do this out of spite nor because of man’s disobedience. So, what did the Lord do? Having hidden the tree of life from Adam and his descendants, the Lord planted another Tree, the second Tree of Life. This Tree is the Tree of the Cross.

 

 

The Fruit which grows on the Tree of the Cross is the Lord Himself, even His Body and Blood, whereof if a man eat, he shall never die. By the Tree of the Cross man’s nature is healed of all its sinful disobedience. We are to live as God’s sons and daughters. Whereas the tree of life in Eden’s garden was hidden after the fall, the new Tree of Life, the Cross, was not hidden.

Have you ever made a map? When you do draw a map diagram, we usually mark an “X” to mark the spot we are looking for.  By the intersection of the two lines a precise location may be unmistakably indicated. This is why we must have the Crucifix here in our churches at the holy altar of God.

In the same way, the Lord of all, when He willed to lead all men back to Paradise and give them the Fruit of Eternal Life, set up the Cross in the midst of the earth and said “Here I will meet you:” If you will, here where X marks the spot. So, to all mankind Christ showed the precise location of our salvation, saying, “Here, on the Cross, I will meet you.”

If we are afraid of the suffering of the Cross, this only means that we have yet to hunger for its fruit, for the grace of Christ sweetens all the sufferings of this life. Therefore, let us never fear to bear the Lord’s Cross. Let us ascend with joy, striving for all the virtues according to our state in life, accepting all that comes upon us by Providence. Thus, shall we partake of the true Fruit of the Tree of Life, which is the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinty of Jesus Christ, the Holy Eucharist we receive.