24th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Dear Friends,

The two dates this weekend, September 14/15, are the traditional feast days of the Exaltation (Triumph) of the Holy Cross and Our Lady of Sorrows. The two go hand-in-hand, for one gives rise to the other. The Cross is the instrument by which the human race is saved by the death of the Messiah – Jesus of Nazareth, God incarnate. Yet it is a triumphant sign, not one of defeat. We exalt the Cross for the fact that the God-Man laid down his life upon it, but also because we have the opportunity to embrace it in our own lives and to lift it up as a sign of victory for ourselves. Nonetheless, the Cross is also a clear sign of suffering and difficulty. Indeed, Mary was tormented by watching her Son die so terribly. She was sorrowful at the foot of the Cross. This was predicted by Simeon in the Temple when the baby Jesus was brought there. Mary was told that her own heart would be pierced by a sword. But this would be “so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed”(Luke 2:35).

The Cross manifest in each of our lives through the various sufferings we must endure can be met with two fundamental responses: acceptance or rejection. There is a third middle ground that is one of passive willingness to endure, but it doesn’t represent a whole-hearted embrace. The call of Christians is to embrace what comes with Jesus. To be able to see the sufferings in life as opportunities to be united with the Lord in his own suffering makes it so the Cross can be exalted. For it is always through the Cross that we have the Resurrection. Yet it is difficult. And so we have a Mother who knows this place; however, she teaches us to remain steadfast, and in doing so, we will come to have great wisdom.

The readings for this Sunday point to the necessity of making a clear choice for God, Cross and all. With Mary’s intercession and the grace that God provides, we can persevere and learn to exalt the Cross as it comes to us. We listen to the last words Jesus speaks in the gospel today, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it” (Mark 8:34,35).

God bless you.

-Fr. Kennell