HOMILY
HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA
SEPTEMBER 14,
1984
We
adore you, 0 Christ, and we praise you,
because
by your Cross you have redeemed the
world. Alleluia
Dear
Brothers and Sisters,
As
representatives of the People of God in the
Archdiocese of Halifax, Cape
Breton, all of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, you are united in this
acclamation of the liturgy with
Archbishop Hayes and your other Bishops,
and with the Church throughout the world. The Catholic Church celebrates
today the feast of the Triumph of
the Cross of Christ. Thus the crucified
Christ is lifted up
by faith in the hearts of
all who believe, and he too lifts up those same hearts
with a hope
that cannot be destroyed. For
the
Cross is the sign of the Redemption, and in the Redemption is contained, the pledge of resurrection
and the
beginning of new life: the lifting
up of human hearts.
At
the very beginning of my service in the
See of Saint Peter I endeavoured to proclaim this truth through the
Encyclical Redemptor
Hominis.
In this same truth I desire
to be united with all of you
today in the adoration of the Cross of Christ:
"Never
forget the deeds of the Lord" (cf. Ps 77(78):7).
To
comply with this acclamation of today's
liturgy let us follow attentively
the path
traced out by these holy words in which the mystery of the Triumph of the Cross is announced
to us.
In
the first place, the meaning of the Old Testament is contained
in these words. According to
Saint Augustine,
the Old Testament conceals within
itself what is fully revealed in the New. Here we have the image of
the
bronze serpent to which Jesus referred in his conversation
with Nicodemus. The Lord
himself revealed the meaning of
this image, saying: "The Son of Man must be lifted up as Moses
lifted up the serpent in the desert,
so that
everyone who believes may have eternal life in him" (Jn 3:14-15).
During
Israel's march from Egypt to the
Promised Land, God permitted -because of the murmuring of the people - a
plague of poisonous snakes, as a result
of which many died. When the others understood their sin they
asked Moses
to
intercede before God: "Intercede for us with the Lord to save us from
these serpents" (Num 21:7).
Moses
prayed and received the following order
from the Lord: "Make a fiery serpent and put it on a standard.
If
anyone is bitten and looks at it,
he
shall live" (Num 21:8). Moses obeyed the order. The bronze serpent
set
upon the standard became salvation
from death for anyone who was bitten by the
serpents.
In
the Book of Genesis the serpent was a symbol of the spirit of evil. But now, by a startling
reversal, the bronze
serpent lifted up in the desert is a figure of Christ lifted up on
the
Cross.
The
feast of the Triumph of the Cross recalls to our minds, and in
a certain sense makes present,
the lifting
up of Christ on the Cross. This feast
is the lifting up of the saving Christ: whoever believes in the
Crucified
One has eternal life.
The
lifting up of Christ on the Cross gives a beginning to the
lifting up of humanity through
the Cross.
And the final measure of this lifting up is eternal life.
This
Old Testament event is recalled in the
central theme of John's Gospel.
Why
are the Cross and the Crucified One the
doorway to eternal life?
Because
in him - Christ crucified - is
manifested to the full the love
of God for the world, for man.
In
the same conversation with Nicodemus Christ says: "God
loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that
everyone who
believes in him may not
be lost but
may have eternal life. For God sent his Son into the
world, not
to condemn the world, but so that through him the world might be saved"
(Jn 3:16-17).
The
salvific lifting up
of the Son of God on the Cross has
its eternal source
in love.
This is the love of the Father that
sends the Son; he gives
his Son
for the salvation of the world. And at the same time it is the
love of the Son
who does
not "judge" the world, but gives himself for the love of the Father and for the
salvation of the world. Giving himself
to the Father through the Sacrifice of the Cross, he
gives himself
at the same time to the
world: to
each person and to the whole of humanity.
The
Cross contains in itself the mystery of
salvation, because, in the Cross,
Love is lifted up.
This is
the lifting up of Love to the supreme point in the history of the
world: in the
Cross Love is lifted up and the Cross is at the same time lifted
up
through Love. And from the height of the
Cross, love comes down to us. Yes: "The Cross is the most
profound condescension
of God to man.... The Cross is like
a
touch of eternal love upon the
most painful
wounds of man's existence" (Dives in Misericordia, 8).
To
the event of John's Gospel the liturgy of
today's feast adds the presentation
made by Paul in his Letter to the Philippians. The Apostle speaks
of an emptying of Christ through the Cross; and at
the same time of Christ's
being
lifted up above all things - and
this too had its beginning in the
same Cross:
"Christ
Jesus... emptied himself to assume the condition of a
slave, and became as men are; and
being as
all men are, he was humbler yet, even to accepting death, death
on a
cross. But God raised him high and gave him the name which is above all other names, so that all beings in
the heavens, on earth and
in the underworld, should bend the
knee at the name of Jesus, and that every tongue should acclaim Jesus
Christ as
Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Ph 2:6-11).
The
Cross is the sign of the deepest
humiliation of Christ. In the eyes
of
the people of that time it was the sign of an infamous death.
Free men
could not be punished with such a death, only slaves. Christ willingly accepts
this death, death on the Cross. Yet this
death becomes the beginning
of the Resurrection.
In the Resurrection the crucified Servant of
Yahweh is lifted up: he is lifted up
before the whole of creation.
At
the same time the Cross is also lifted
up. It ceases to be the sign
of
infamous death and becomes the sign of resurrection, that is,
of life.
Through the sign of the Cross it is not the
servant or the slave who is
speaking, but the Lord of
all creation.
These
three elements of today's Liturgy
- the Old Testament, the Christological
hymn of Paul and the Gospel of John - form together
the great wealth of the mystery of the Triumph of the Cross.
Finding
ourselves immersed in this mystery with the Church, which throughout the world celebrates today
the Triumph
of the Holy Cross, I wish to share in a special way its
riches
with you, dear brothers and sisters of the
Archdiocese of Halifax, dear people of Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and all Canada.
Yes,
I wish to share with all
of you the riches of that Holy Cross -that standard of
salvation which was implanted on your soil 450 years ago. Since
that time the Cross has triumphed in this land; and, through
the collaboration of thousands of Canadians, the liberating and saving
message of
the Cross has been spread to the ends of the earth.
At
this time I wish to pay homage to the
missionary contribution of the
sons and daughters of
Canada who have given their lives so "that the Lord's message may
spread
quickly, and be received with honour as it was among you" (2 Th 3:1). I pay homage to the faith and love
that
motivated them, and to the power of the Cross that gave them
strength to
go out and fulfil [sp]
Christ's
command: "Make disciples of all nations; baptize them in the
name
of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Mt 28:20).
And
in paying homage to your missionaries, I pay homage likewise
to the communities throughout the world who have embraced their message
and marked their graves with the
Cross of Christ. The
Church is grateful for the
hospitality of a final resting place given to the missionaries, whence they await the definitive Triumph
of the Holy
Cross in the glory of resurrection
and eternal life.
I
express profound gratitude for the zeal that has
characterized the Church in Canada, and I thank you for the prayers and
contributions and various
activities through
which you support the missionary cause. In particular I thank you for your
generosity to the mission aid societies
of the
Holy See.
Evangelization
remains for all time the sacred heritage
of Canada, which
has indeed such a proud
history of missionary activity at home and abroad.
Evangelization must continue to be exercised through personal witness, by preaching hope in the
promises of
Jesus and by proclaiming fraternal
love. It will forever be connected with the implantation and building up of the Church and have a
deep
relationship with development and liberation as expressions of
human
advancement. At the centre of the message, however, is an explicit
proclamation of salvation in Jesus Christ -
that salvation brought about on the Cross. In the words of Paul VI: "Evangelization will also always
contain -
as the foundation, centre and at the same time summit of its
dynamism -
a clear proclamation that, in Jesus Christ,
the Son of God made man, who died and rose from the dead, salvation is offered to all people, as a gift of
God's grace
and mercy" (Evangelii Nuntiandi, 27).
Even
as I speak these words there is Another who is speaking to
the hearts of young people
everywhere. It is
the Holy Spirit himself and he is urging each one, as a member of
Christ, to
embrace and to speak the Good News of
God's love. But to some the Spirit is proposing the command of Jesus in
its
specific missionary form: Go and make disciples of all nations.
Before the whole Church, I, John Paul II,
proclaim once again the excelling
value of
the missionary vocation. And I assure all those called to the
priesthood
and religious life that our Lord Jesus Christ is ready to accept and make fruitful the special
sacrifice of
their lives, in celibacy, for
the
Triumph of the Cross.
Today
the evangelizing Church returns in a
certain sense to relive the whole
period that begins on Ash Wednesday, reaches its height in Holy Week and
Easter, and extends through the following
weeks until Pentecost. The feast
of
the Triumph
of the Holy Cross is like
a concise summary of the whole
Paschal Mystery of our Lord Jesus
Christ.
The
Cross "triumphs" because on it Christ is lifted up.
Through
it Christ has "lifted up"
man. On the Cross every person is definitively
lifted up
to his or her full dignity - to the dignity of final destiny in
God.
In
the Cross the power of Love that
elevates man, that exalts him, is also
revealed.
Indeed
the whole plan of Christian life, of human life is
summarized and reconfirmed here in a marvellous [sp] way: the
plan and
its meaning! Let us accept
this plan
- and its meaning! Let us once again find a place for the Cross
in our lives and in our society.
Let
us speak of it in a special way to all
those who suffer, and hand on
its
message of hope to the young. And let us continue to proclaim to the
ends of
the earth its saving power: Exaltatio Crucis! the Triumph of the
Holy Cross!
Brothers
and sisters: "Never forget the
deeds of the Lord"! Amen.
Conférence
des évêques catholiques du Canada