Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

Why We Exalt The Cross

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

Church of St. Bridget of Minneapolis, MN

Sunday, September 14, 2025

People in the ancient world would find the phrase “the Exaltation of the Holy Cross” very strange. They would be shocked to learn that a day is set aside to celebrate the victory of the cross. It’s like someone today speaking about the triumph of the electric chair or the exaltation of the noose. In the ancient world, no punishment was more painful, terrifying, or dehumanizing than the cross. It horrified people back then. It was a state-sponsored act of terrorism, a form of capital punishment given to those who seriously challenged Roman authority. The cross was an instrument of oppression and repression. At that time, simply mentioning it was enough to silence dissent and stop rebellion against Rome. It was the highest point, the climax, and the ultimate suffering. 

Now, if this is the case, why are we celebrating the cross’s triumph? Why do we assign words like “victory,” “triumph,” and “exaltation” to the instrument of such profound cruelty? While preaching about the cross on Good Friday in 2022, I mentioned the great Roman orator and master of Latin, Cicero. While describing crucifixion in a letter, he used all sorts of indirect expressions and circumlocutions because describing it directly was too gory and too frightening. If the cross frightened and terrified ancient people, why are we celebrating it today? The answer is clear: it is because of the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead. For the last 2,000 years, many have tried to deny the fact that Jesus rose from the dead. The reason is that people understand the Resurrection validates the Man and His message. If Jesus rose, He is who He claimed to be—the very Son of God. But all attempts to downplay or explain away the Resurrection are invalidated by the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. I tell you, if Jesus was simply a victim of that horrifying instrument of torture and death, if He did not overcome it, if He did not rise from the dead—then let’s all go home and find other things to do. 

As soon as the first disciples accepted the truth of the Resurrection, they turned their full attention to the cross, convinced that they would find something decisive there. It’s not just that Jesus died or was executed by corrupt people on the cross; it was that he endured the death reserved only for the lowest and most despised. After being raised from the dead, the first Christians looked at that horrific event and saw in it something that matched the weight of sin. Somehow, on that instrument of torture and humiliation, Jesus, the Son of God, addresses what could not be fully addressed in any other way: he pays the required price. In Psalm 49:8-9, we hear, “No man can ransom even a brother, or pay to God his own ransom. The redemption of his soul is costly.” Since the ransom for our sins is beyond us, Jesus paid it on the cross. Sin is like a disease, an addiction, a condition in which we find ourselves stuck. We cannot save ourselves. Someone must come from outside of sin, but at the same time, he must enter into sin, fight it, undo its works, reverse its effects, and break it from within. A great deal of work needs to be done to set things right for us. On that terrible cross, Jesus took upon himself the worst of humanity and swallowed it up in the ever-greater divine mercy. 

So, we celebrate the Exaltation of the Cross. We honor that instrument of torture on which Jesus Christ, our Savior and our God, died. We exalt the Cross because from the cross was born the new life of Paul. From the cross was born the conversion of Augustine of Hippo; from the cross was born the joyful poverty of Francis of Assisi; from the cross was born the radiant goodness of Vincent de Paul; from the cross was born the great compassion and apostolic zeal of Alphonsus Liguori; from the cross was born the heroism of Maximillian Kolbe; from the cross was born the amazing charity of Mother Teresa of Calcutta; from the cross was born the courage of Pope John Paul II; from the cross was born the bravery of Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador; from the cross was born the exemplary life of Carlo Acutis. From the cross was born the revolution of love. So, the cross is not the death of God, but the birth of his love and mercy in the world. The cross is not a depiction of weakness, but rather a symbol of hope and new life. For through the cross, Jesus conquered death, definitively for all eternity. Through the cross, we can also conquer death, the death that comes from sin. Through the cross, we are all led by the Spirit of God to the glory of the Resurrection. As we celebrate the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, let us be joyful and thankful to God for his uncommon love for us.

God bless you!