"The message of the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God".
(1 Corinthians 1:18)
A reading from the Holy Gospel according to the Apostle and Evangelist Saint Mark (Mk 8:34-9:1).
"Summoning the crowd together with His disciples, He said to them: 'If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the Gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? Whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.'
And He said to them, 'Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power.'"
Reflection.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, last Friday we celebrated a feast of great importance in the life of the Church: The Universal Exaltation of the Holy Cross. This occasion is deeply rooted in our faith and in the history of the Church.
Its origins date back to the 4th century when Saint Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine, discovered the True Cross in Jerusalem. Later, in 629, Emperor Heraclius returned the Cross to Jerusalem after recovering it from the Persians. This event is not just a historical remembrance but a proclamation of the victory of the Cross, which stands at the very heart of our Christian journey.
To better understand the significance of this feast, I would like to share a story I recently told the young people of the healthcare community where I work, during a pottery workshop:
"Once upon a time, there was a farmer in India who carried water to the market using two large pots. One pot was perfect, while the other had a crack. Every day, the cracked pot leaked water along the path, while the perfect pot delivered all its water to the market. After years of frustration, the cracked pot asked the farmer why he continued using it, despite its flaws. The farmer replied, 'I have always known about your flaw. I planted flowers along the path on your side, and every day, you unknowingly watered them. Thanks to you, those flowers have grown and now beautify my home.'
This story offers us a profound reflection on our lives and the meaning of the Cross. Often, we feel like the cracked pot, all too aware of our flaws and weaknesses. Yet God, like the farmer, knows how to transform our weaknesses into instruments of grace and beauty. The cross we carry, along with our sufferings and imperfections, may seem like a pointless burden, but God knows how to use everything for good.
In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus invites us to “deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him.” This is not merely a call to endure the sufferings of life, but to do so with faith and hope, knowing that God can transform our weakness into strength and our suffering into salvation. Jesus shows us that the cross, which the world sees as a symbol of defeat, is instead how He won the ultimate victory over sin and death.
But why do we celebrate the Cross, an instrument of torture and suffering, as a sign of victory and glory? The answer is given to us by the Church Fathers and Scripture, which see in the Cross not only the death of Christ but His triumph over death itself, the moment when divine love is most powerfully revealed.
Saint John Chrysostom, one of the great Fathers of the Church, tells us: “The Cross is the trophy of victory over demons, the sword against sin, the sword with which Christ pierced the serpent. The Cross is the will of the Father, the glory of the Son, the exaltation of the Holy Spirit.” (Homily on the Exaltation of the Holy Cross). Chrysostom reminds us that the Cross is more than a symbol of suffering: it is the victory of God’s love over sin and death, the manifestation of divine power in human weakness.
Furthermore, Saint Paul, in his Letter to the Galatians (2:16-20), reminds us that we are not justified by our works, but by faith in Jesus Christ: “I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” This means that we cannot save ourselves by our own human efforts or by trying to be perfect. Just as the cracked pot could not hold all the water, we too must accept our fragility. But, as Paul says, when we let Christ live in us, our lives are transformed. We are no longer defined by our limitations but by the power of God working through us, and the Cross ceases to be merely a burden. Instead, it becomes for each of us the sign of our new life in Christ.
And this thought is echoed by Saint Irenaeus of Lyons, who, writing in the 2nd century, tells us that through the Cross, Christ has renewed humanity, offering a new opportunity for mankind to return to communion with God. He writes: “The glory of man is God, but the life of man is the vision of God” (Against Heresies, IV, 20,7). This "vision of God" is granted to us precisely through the Cross, for it is there that God’s love for humanity is revealed in its fullness.
Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, another great Church Father, states in one of his catecheses: “Every action of Christ is the glory of the Church, but the glory of glories is the Cross. Everything He suffered, He suffered for us, for our salvation. And on the Cross, the great mystery of God’s love was fulfilled” (Catechesis XIII, 1).
To celebrate the Exaltation of the Holy Cross means to acknowledge that, through Christ’s sacrifice, the Cross has been transformed from an instrument of death into a symbol of eternal life. Like the cracked pot in the story, I shared earlier, the Cross represents the apparent defeat that contains the greatest victory. Jesus did not shy away from the Cross; He embraced it, and in this act, He transformed the world.
The story of the cracked pot reminds us that God can bring forth beauty in our lives even through what seems like loss. When we take up our cross and follow Christ, we discover that our fragility becomes fertile ground for God’s grace.
Saint Gregory of Nyssa, commenting on the spiritual significance of the Cross, tells us: “The Cross has destroyed enmity and brought peace. It has united what was separated and has reconciled what was at war” (Sermon on the Cross). Through the Cross, the world reconciled with God is brought together in a new covenant.
Brothers and sisters, like the cracked pot that unwittingly watered the flowers along the path, we too, by carrying our cross in faith, can contribute to the beauty of the world and the growth of the Kingdom of God.
This transformation of suffering into hope is also evident in the memory of Saint Euphemia of Chalcedon, whom we commemorate today, in connection with the Fourth Ecumenical Council of 451 AD. During the Council, the Church faced the Monophysite heresies and sought to define the dogma of the faith. The bishops prayed fervently, placing both the Orthodox Creed and the Monophysite creed in the saint’s tomb. After three days of fasting and prayer, the tomb was opened, and the Orthodox Creed was found in the hands of Saint Euphemia, while the Monophysite creed lay at her feet, trampled. This miraculous sign reminded everyone that true faith is always upheld by divine grace.
Thus, just as the Cross triumphed over death, Saint Euphemia shows us that true faith cannot be defeated. Let us therefore embrace our cross with confidence, knowing that in it we find not only participation in Christ’s suffering, but also His victory and our redemption. "It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me." May this awareness guide us today and always.
Amen.
Archpriest Michele Alberto Del Duca.
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