Monthly Reflection

by Bishop Myron J. Cotta, D.D  |  09/29/2024  |  From the Clergy

My Dear People of God,

Within this busy month of September, the Church invites us to pause and reflect upon one of her feast days: the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, September 14. This is the only day outside of the Good Friday Liturgy, with the Veneration of the Cross, that we are called to give attention to the wood of the Holy Cross. On September 14, we are invited to behold the mystery of the cross.

We are challenged to take time to reflect upon the intersecting beams, fashioned from the wood of a tree, to form a cross, the sign of our salvation. The cross, during the time of Jesus, was a sign of extreme cruelty, humiliation, abandonment, death. It stood as a spectacle, a warning, to what could happen to someone who chose to break the laws of Rome. In the divine plan of God the Father, it would be this means of execution - crucifixion - that would serve as a means for a true and pure, unblemished sacrifice, offered for the sake of our redemption. Because of the effects of sin, being so extreme and offensive to God, it would take extreme measures of selfless obedience, suffering and death to remedy sin and the rebellious human heart. So, in the Father’s plan, the wood of the Cross, the wood for the holocaust of redemption, would become for us the Tree of Life! We know, it was on the day of our baptism, that Original Sin was dealt with by the death of the Son of God-Incarnate crucified on the wood of the Cross and risen from the dead! We also are aware that after baptism, when we happen to sin, we are called to repent, and in a spirit of true contrition, confess our sins. Through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, our relationship with God is reordered. This graced experience of repentance and contrition of our sins, occurs when we encounter the graced - vertical - movement of God’s mercy as it descends upon us and intersects with the movement - horizontal- of the fallen nature of the sinful human heart. It is at that point of crossing, intersecting, encountering that one experiences the divine grace of conversion! As we avoid self-centeredness, the ego, our lives take on a new direction, a new path, as we turn away from sin and face Christ and recommit ourselves to follow him with a renewed spirit. The intersecting beams of the wood of the Cross serve as a compass that points out to the world in all directions: north, south, east and west. The Cross stands as an invitation not to be feared. For when one approaches it, sinful and broken, the person will behold He who is fastened to it, with arms outstretched - Jesus! We must not hesitate to approach Jesus and his merciful heart which was pierced for our redemption and salvation. And we must never forget, whatever cross we may be carrying, the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, will give us the courage to face and accept it with a joy - a joy that only Jesus can give us. So, sisters and brothers, why, during the month of September, are we to hold up the Cross in exaltation? Because He, who has loved us, has layed down his life for us. He has redeemed us and our fallen world by the blood of his Cross! Let us: “Behold the wood of the Cross, on which hung the Salvation of the world!” “Come, let us adore!”

In the Peace of Christ,

Bishop Cotta