In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Not many years ago, while on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, I entered into a very special chapel dedicated to St. Helena. This chapel is located in the lower level of the holiest church in the world for what it contains inside. This was the Church of the Holy Sepulcher located in the Old City of Jerusalem. The Chapel of St. Helena is where today’s Feast of the Discovery of the Holy Cross took place. It was down in that once forgotten part of the holiest church in the world—the church that houses the Tomb of Christ, the site of His Crucifixion and so many other important places tied to His death and Resurrection, where the Holy Cross of Jesus Christ was discovered.
In the year 327 A.D., St. Helena went to find what she believed to be the most important relic of the Christian faith—the Cross on which Jesus was Crucified. With the support of her son, the Emperor Constantine of Rome, St. Helena was eventually able to discover the true Cross, but as the event is described, her men found not one cross but three. Which then, would be the Cross upon which the Son of God was nailed?
There are local beliefs and traditions that tell much about the days and years following the early church. One of these traditions surrounds the discovery of the Cross. A young boy had recently died somewhere around Jerusalem and as his lifeless body was being carried to his burial place, St. Helena thought that the boy’s body would prove to her which cross was surely the true Cross of Christ. She ordered that the young boy’s body be laid upon each of the crosses. On the first two crosses, nothing happened, but upon laying the boy’s body on the third cross, life re-entered the boy’s body. The Cross of Christ was changed into a life-giving Cross—a Cross that can breathe life into the dead.
It is that life-giving Breath of God that our Church Fathers call Asdvadz-a-shounch that breathes life into us. When a Christian looks at the cross, we see the cross as the place where our soul and spirit can be healed and uplifted. The cross is the connection by which we can return to God the Father. The cross is the beacon re-directing our attention to focus on Christ. The cross is the school where we learn the truth about right and wrong and about the depth of God’s Love. The Cross is the symbol from where we can draw strength when we tire and the place where every human being can go to meet God.
I want to wrap this up by asking you to bring to mind the image of the Crucifixion. Ever wonder about the two crosses next to Jesus? Ever wonder why Jesus was crucified between two criminals? Could it be the crosses on each side of Him were giving us a message? The message being that we have a choice.
The two criminals crucified with Him had so much in common with each other—convicted of the same crime by the same legal system; condemned to the same death; surrounded by the same crowd; each placed equal distance to Jesus’ Cross. The Bible says “At first the two criminals mocked Him” [Mt. 27:44], “but soon one of the two men changed and turned to Jesus and said, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your Kingdom.” And Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in Paradise.” [Lk 23:42-4] But soon one of the two men changed and turned to Jesus and said, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your Kingdom” Jesus, answered him, “I tell you the truth, you will be with me in Paradise.”
[Lk23:42-43].
Think about that thief who repented. Though we know little about him, we know this. He made some bad mistakes in life. He chose the wrong crowd, the wrong morals, the wrong behavior, but instead of spending eternity reaping the fruit of all the bad choices he made, he is enjoying the fruit of the ONE good choice he made. In the end, all his bad choices were replaced by a singular good choice.
We have all made some bad choices in life over the years and we have looked back over our lives and said, “If only I made better choices.” Well, the Cross of Christ is there to tell us that we still can. One good choice for eternity offsets a thousand bad choices on earth. The choice to do that is ours.
The message of the Cross is one of love and forgiveness and of second chances. The message of the Cross is that we have a choice—to embrace this faith or not, to live it every day or not and to show the world around us that there is another way—a Christian way, a God-pleasing way, the way of the Cross.
So let’s leave here today asking ourselves:
• When you see a cross, do you see it as a chance to make better choices?
• Do you see it as a message that God is speaking to you like He spoke to the man on the cross next to Him?
• How do you understand the Cross of Christ in your life?
Something we should all think about.
Amen.
