FEAST OF THE EXALTATION OF THE HOLY CROSS, SEPTEMBER 14, 2025

MASS READINGS

Reading 2 Philippians 2:6-11

Brothers and sisters:

Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped.

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 and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

REFLECTION

" He humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross."

Today we celebrate the feast of the exaltation of the Holy Cross. What this means is that we celebrate the discovery of the true Cross by St. Helena the mother of the Emperor Constantine, in 320 under the temple of Venus in Jerusalem, and the dedication in 335 of the basilica and shrine built on Calvary by Constantine, which mark the site of the Crucifixion.

As Catholics, we remember, venerate, and worship many things related to Jesus: His Blood spilled for our sins, His Sacred Heart, His Flesh, His Wounds, etc. But, how about an object like the Cross on which He died? Do we venerate, honor, or worship it?

There are 4 types of veneration:

1. ‘Latria’, which means adoration that we give to the Blessed Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

2. ‘Hyperdulia’ given to the Blessed Virgin Mary means the highest veneration.

3. ‘Dulia’, given to the saints, implies veneration. Finally, Glorious Saint Joseph is rightly given

4. ‘Protodulia’, meaning that among the saints he is given first place; ‘Proto’ means first!”

So, which kind of veneration is due to the true Cross?

According to St. Thomas Aquinas, Latria. First, we worship God alone, this is, we worship the The Most Blessed Trinity for its own sake. We also worship the flesh of Christ our Savior, not because the flesh is itself divine, but because this sacred flesh has been hypostatically united to the Divine Essence through the Person of the Word. Thus we latria what is joined and united to the divinity in the work of our salvation.

Through this wood, which held His Body and was saturated with His Holy Blood we have been redeemed. This is how the Cross was sanctified.

The complete explanation is given in the Summa Theologica, third part, question 25, article 4: https://www.newadvent.org/summa/4025.htm#article4

Today take some time to meditate on the Litany of the Holy Cross, and remember His Holy Sacrifice and love for us, who don't deserve it, and many times ignore it.

God bless y'all!