The Exaltation of the Cross.

As Christians we have become so accustomed to seeing the crucifix in our churches and homes that
we can perhaps forget the horrific suffering it represents. When we do reflect on that suffering, the
Exaltation of the Cross, that cruel instrument of torture and execution, can seem scandalously
insensitive to what Christ underwent for our salvation. Indeed, certain forms of spiritual devotion
would have us meditate on those sufferings of Christ as a way of stirring us to tears of repentance,
conversion, and reparation.
However, the Exaltation of the Cross is not the exaltation of suffering or an attempt to romanticize
(in any way) Christ’s agonizing death. Instead, it is an exaltation of God’s, love for humankind,
considering that it was God’s love that led to the cross, something Jesus makes clear to Nicodemus.
And, ultimately, it is this infinite love which even the most atrocious human violence and hate
could not destroy, that saves us, and not simply the suffering so bravely and meekly borne.
As such the cross becomes the culminating sign and proof of what we have come to call God’s
unconditional love.