Devotion to the cross is so much a part of who we are that understanding what that means is important.
The Cross is an awesome reality which encompasses all the mysteries of the Christian faith.
For some the Cross principally symbolizes asceticism, for others social justice, for still others redemptive suffering.
We use the title cross in many different ways. What facet of the mystery of the Cross are we principally called to embrace and extend? What facet of the Cross are we supposed to be living?
The answer is revealed in the feast day from which we received our name: the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (previously called the Triumph of the Cross). The Triumph of Christ Crucified is the foundation of our mission and spirituality.
The cross for us is the exulted cross, the victorious cross, the cross which reveals God’s love which saves the world. Our feast day isn’t Good Friday when we come and realize it’s a time of mourning, a time of sadness, a time of fasting.
No, our feast day is the Exaltation of the Cross. The victorious cross. The cross that has conquered. The cross that is the hope of the world. It’s that section of the mystery, or that aspect of the mystery of the cross, that we are called as Companions to embrace and to extend.
“I love you Jesus, use my life to extend the triumph of your Cross.” This is the essence of our mission.
The Cross is ultimately a victory: the victory of God’s love.
It is the symbol of Christ Crucified, the power and wisdom of God, who conquered sin and death, and now triumphs over all that oppresses us as the Lord of all creation! We have hope, we have victory in Christ Crucified and his victorious cross.