Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

Exaltation of the WTC Cross

Sept. 14: Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
September 14, 2008, Exaltation of the Holy Cross
Numbers 21:4-9 Philippians 2:6-11 John 3:13-17

To the churched and unchurched[1]
gathered in a temple not built by human hands[2]

First reading: Num 21:4-9

With their patience worn out by the journey, the people complained against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in this desert, where there is no food or water? We are disgusted with this wretched food!” In punishment the LORD sent among the people poisonous snakes, which bit the people so that many of them died. Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned in complaining against the LORD and you. Pray the LORD to take the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people, and the LORD said to Moses, “Make a poisonous snake and lift it up on a pole, and if any who have been bitten looks up at it, they will live.” Moses accordingly made a bronze snake and mounted it on a pole, and whenever anyone who had been bitten by a snake looked up at the bronze snake, he lived.

The word of the Lord
Thanks be to God

Second reading: Phil 2:6-11

Brothers and sisters: Christ Jesus, though He was in the form of God,did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, He emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, He humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. Because of this, God greatly lifted Him up and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Alleluia, alleluia.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John 3:13-17
Glory to you, Lord.

Jesus said to Nicodemus: “No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. ”For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.

The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Introduction
A feast day of the Lord

Whenever a feast of the Lord lands on a Sunday, the feast replaces the Sunday. Today, September 14, is the Feast of the Lord’s holy cross, and it replaces the 24th Sunday of Ordinary Time.

The finding of Jesus' cross

In the Eastern Church, this feast commemorates the finding of the holy cross by St. Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine, in the early fourth century. It commemorates also the recovery of the true cross in 629, which had been carried off by the Persians in 614.

The exalting of Jesus’ cross

The feast is also about the exalting of the holy cross. The old Latin missal of the Roman Church titled it In Exaltatione Sanctae Crucis - Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. [3] The word is exalting (not exulting)[4], and it means “a lifting up.” There is an exalting – a lifting up - in all three readings today. In the first, God orders Moses to fashion a bronze snake, put it on a pole and lift it up so that all those bitten by snakes might gaze upon it and be healed. (Num 21:4-9) In the second, Paul exhorts us to be like the humble Christ who was obedient even unto death upon a cross. “Because of that God has greatly exalted Him [has greatly lifted Him up] giving Him a name which is above every other name….” (Phil 2:6-11) In the gospel, Jesus, speaking of His impending death upon the cross, tells Nicodemus that, “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in Him might be saved.” (Jn 3: 3-17)

On this feast day Byzantine Christians carry a cross (decorated with flowers and sweet smelling basil leaves) in solemn procession around the church three times to a station. There it is solemnly lifted up for adoration. At each of the three exaltations the choir chants “Lord have mercy” one hundred times. After that, the liturgy of the Eucharist follows. Byzantine Christians repeat this September rite of lifting up the cross on the third Sunday of Lent.

The finding of the WTC cross

On Wednesday, September 13, 2001, two days after the apocalyptic event of 9/11 and the day before the feast of the finding of the true cross, a huge steel cross-beam was found in the rubble of the World Trade Center (WTC) by construction worker Frank Silecchia. It was standing straight, 20-feet high. It was not simply a cross-beam remaining from an existing building. It was formed out of beams from Building One plunging, splitting and crashing into Building Six. After finding the cross-beam, construction workers, firefighters, police officers and family members began holding weekly Sunday services before it. The names of fallen police officers and firefighters were scribbled on the cross, along with the message "God Bless Our Fallen Brothers."

The exalting of the WTC cross

Silecchia led Father Brian Jordan, a Franciscan friar, to Ground Zero. "It was astounding," Jordan said. "When he showed it to me, I was an instant believer." On October 4, 2001, feast of St. Francis of Assisi, Firefighters, police officers, construction workers, rescue personnel, Port Authority officers and others all gathered at the 20-foot-tall cross to watch Father Jordan bless it and pray for "the healing mercy of God on all Americans.” Then Silecchia and Jordan agreed the cross should be preserved as a permanent memorial, and they contacted the deputy mayor of NYC to make arrangements. The cross-beam was removed from the wreckage, affixed by ironworkers to a permanent base, then was lifted up in a prominent spot at Ground Zero.
Journey out of Gound Zero

The cross moved on.

On Thursday, October 5, 2006 the 2-ton cross was moved on a flatbed truck in solemn procession for a three-block trip to a new temporary home where it was lifted up to face Ground Zero outside the 18th-century church of St. Peter - the city's oldest Roman Catholic parish. A procession of victims' families, clergy and construction workers followed the cross to St. Peter's. Five years before, that church, rattled but intact after the attack of 9/11, became a temporary morgue. There firefighters reverently laid the body of one of their own - Franciscan friar, Fr. Mychal Judge. He was a chaplain for the New York City Fire Department and lost his life in the pandemonium of 9/11, as he was administering the Last Sacrament to a victim. Fr. Jordan, in Franciscan habit and cinctured with white cord, led the procession to the temporary resting place, just as he had led the effort to preserve the cross-beam found by construction worker Frank Silecchia five years before. The cross-beam will return to Ground Zero and be lifted up in the $1 billion WTC Museum when it opens in 2013 or 2014.

An inscription at the top of Jesus’ cross

At the head of the cross of Jesus on Calvary there was an inscription:

INRI

Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum

Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.

Conclusion

An inscription at the foot of the WTC cross At the foot of the cross, waiting to return to Ground Zero and be lifted up in the new WTC Museum, there is also an inscription:

THE CROSS AT GROUND ZERO

FOUNDED (sic!) SEPT.13, 2001
BLESSED OCT. 4, 2001
TEMPORARILY RELOCATED
OCT. 5, 2006
WILL RETURN TO WTC MUSEUM
A SIGN OF COMFORT FOR
ALL

[1]] By the “the unchurched” is especially meant not those who have left the church but those whom the church has left!

[2] Acts of the Apostles 17:24

[3] The Roman Missal after Vatican II titles this feast as “The Triumph of the Holy Cross.”

[4] Exaltation means lifting up, while exultation means rejoicing.

Fraternal Correction

Fraternal Correction
September 7, 2008, 23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time
Ezekiel 33:7-9 Romans 13:8-10 Matthew 18:15-17

To the churched and unchurched[1]
gathered in a temple not built by human hands[2]

First reading from Exodus 33:7-9

Thus says the LORD: “Now, mortal man, I am making you a watchman for the nation of Israel. You must pass on to them the warnings I give you. If I announce that an evil man is going to die but you do not warn him to change his ways so that he can save his life, then he will die in his sin, and I will hold you responsible for his death. If you do warn an evil man, and he does not stop sinning, he will die in his sin, but your life will be saved.”

The word of the Lord
Thanks be to God

Second reading from Romans 13:8-10

Brothers and sisters: Owe no one anything but to love one another, for the one who loves has fulfilled the Law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; you shall not kill; you shall not steal; you shall not covet,” and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no evil to the neighbor; hence, love is the fulfillment of the law.

Alleluia, alleluia.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew
18:15-17
Glory to you, Lord.

Jesus said to his disciples, “If someone does something wrong, go and talk matters over between the two of you alone. If that person listens to you, fine. If not, take one or two other persons with you, for as the scriptures say, `The testimony of two or three persons is required to sustain a charge against someone.’ (Dt 19:15) And if that does not work, then go to the community. If the person refuses to listen even to the community, then treat him as Gentile or tax collector.

The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Introduction
Fraternal correction

As the Lord God appointed Ezekiel to be a loving watchman over the house of Israel, so the gospel appoints us to be loving watchmen over each other. “If someone does something wrong, go first and talk matters over between the two of you.” Parents are duty-bound to be watchmen over their kids, spouses over each other, priests over their flocks, etc. Down the Christian centuries this duty to be a loving watchman over one another has been called”fraternal correction.” We are appointed not to be fault-finders, criticizers, gossipers or detractors but loving watchmen over each other. What’s more, fraternal correction is two way traffic: we are obliged not only to correct but also to be corrected.

A function of love

Fraternal correction is not a function of satisfying our pet peeves or venting our anger or giving someone a piece of our mind. That might be deeply gratifying momentarily, but it does not solve a problem. My Irish friend always tells his Italian wife when she lets her Italian nature soundly express itself, “Honey, you’ve just become part of the problem.” Fraternal correction is a function of love. It is not for winning over someone but rather for winning someone over. “If the brother you confront listens to you, you have won him over.” (Mt 18:15)

How not to give fraternal correction

Over the years people have confronted me personally or through mail. One woman wrote, “Your sermons are the most offensive, anger provoking and obsessive sermons I have ever heard in my life. You seem to crave dwelling on pain, Nazi war camps, AIDS and 9/11. I feel you are personally trying to work through problems of your own in front of a captive audience.”

Her correction was, indeed, a function of her anger. She did, indeed, give me a good sound piece of her mind and laid me low. But she also became part of the problem. In her mind she might have won over me, but she did not win me over. I have not mended my ways. I still speak of the unspeakable Holocaust and the Nazi concentration camps. I still speak of the unspeakable event of September 11, which brought down two towers in Lower Manhattan and three thousand innocent human beings. I never let those unforgetables be forgotten.

How to give fraternal correction

On the other hand, another woman, who, I suspect, is wise with the wisdom of age wrote, “Dear Father, I am sure you will receive this with the same spirit it was written -- in charity. Your homily last Saturday evening was much too long. I agree with much you said, but just one point would have been plenty.” She was right. An old homiletic professor used to tell us, “Three points three sermons; two points two sermons; one point one good sermon!”

She continued her fraternal correction, “I am sure you are aware that the attention span of the American audience is very short, accustomed as they are to mostly the sound-bytes of this age, and not much more. Your homilies often bring up so many thought-provoking points, but perhaps they are more suitable for publication than for preaching. Did you ever think of publishing a book? I would be the first to buy it.”

Oh what a sweet piece of her mind that was! How obvious it was that her correction was a function of love. She did not win over me, but she did, indeed, win me over. Looking back on that homily I saw she was absolutely right; the homily was far too long. The faithful had come to Saturday evening Mass prostrated by all the labors and problems of the past week. They took care to fulfill their Sunday Mass obligation so that they could get on with the urgent and customary matters of a weekend. Her fraternal correction cut me to the quick for thinking more about my own important thoughts than about the congregation before me. I felt a bit ashamed for not having had compassion upon the crowds as Jesus did. (Mt 14:14) That fine lady did not win over me, but she did, indeed, win me over.

Fraternal correction according to Sarah Palin

On Friday, August 29, Senator John McCain chose Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to be his running mate. Four months before on April 18, she had given birth to a 6-pound, 2-ounce son, Trig Palin. Trig was born with Down Syndrome -- a genetic abnormality that affects a child's intellectual and physical development. The day after his birth, the Palins released the following statement: "Trig is beautiful and already adored by us. We knew through early testing he would face special challenges, and we feel privileged that God would entrust us with this gift and allow us unspeakable joy as he entered our lives. We have faith that every baby is created for good purpose and has potential to make this world a better place. We are truly blessed."

Then Sarah wrote an e-mail to relatives and close friends. She wrote it as if it were a letter from God to Todd and her. In part it read, "Many people will express sympathy, but you [Todd and Sarah] don't want or need that because Trig will be a joy. You will have to trust Me on this!" Signed "Trig's Creator, Your Heavenly Father."

What a powerful way for Todd and Sarah to fraternally correct a pro-choice attitude and promote a pro-life vision. It’s much more effective than picketing an abortion clinic or shooting pro-choice doctors. Both Todd and Sarah Palin have been vocal pro-life advocates. Now they’re powerfully practicing what they preach. As an old saw says, “What you do speaks so loudly I can’t hear what you say.”

Conclusion
To correct and be corrected

Fraternal correction is two-way traffic: we have an obligation not only to give it but also to receive it. And just as it is hard to give correction so it is hard to receive it.

Do not use bursts of anger to fill someone with fear so that he tells you only what you want to hear. Do not use periods of pouting to fill someone with fear so that he refrains from correcting you, and allows you to “die in your sin.” Free people from fear. Free them to tell you not what you want to hear but what you need to hear. Free them by simply saying, "You’re right! Thanks for telling me." Free them to tell you the truth, and the truth will make you free. What’s more, it’s a sure bet that if you do a good job at receiving fraternal correction, you’ll do a good job at giving it.

[1]] By the “the unchurched” is especially meant not those who have left the church but those whom the church has left!

[2] Acts of the Apostles 17:24