John 3:13-17; Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

In the 4^th century, Constantine built a basilica in Jerusalem. According to tradition, the church encompassed the location where Jesus was crucified and where he was buried. The day after the consecration, the relics of the “true cross” were shown and venerated. Helena was supposed to have discovered them on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in year 326. (around 293 years after the crucifixion) On this is based the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. Today, many people the world over own “pieces of the true cross.” I know someone who owns one. But I don’t have the heart to tell her that none of these pieces has ever been authenticated. The late Fr Tom Green, author of several spirituality books, once joked: “If you gather all the pieces of the true cross people owned, you could build a forest!”

“Exaltation of the Cross” is a bit disturbing for me, sisters and brothers. Jesus never exalted suffering. He never told anyone to embrace suffering for its own sake. Sure, he said, “If anyone wishes to be great among you, let him take up his cross and follow me.” But Jesus was talking about true greatness in acts of service to neighbor. If you dedicate your life to serving others, you’ll have to contend with suffering. But Jesus exalted service, not suffering, and never suffering for its own sake.

I have a friend, JM. He works as a janitor in a McDonald’s. He often says, “Me save. Me buy keyboard for son.” Yes, he says it like that. “Me save. Me buy keyboard for son.” He says it with his hands. JM was born deaf. He has a 10-year-old son who sings in church and has shown increasing interest in playing the piano. Nothing makes JM prouder than seeing his son sing solo for the responsorial psalm on some Sundays. JM doesn’t even know what a song or a piano sounds like. But “Me save. Me buy keyboard for son.”  He’s been at it for quite a bit now, saving up for a piano. JM hits the road at 5am, rain or shine, flood or more flood. By 6:30am, he starts working like a dog. His fellow janitor is slack, so JM ends up doing more work. His boss often asks him to do overtime, which he dislikes, because after eight hours, he just wants to go home. But he could use the extra cash for the piano. Long-term, he wants to buy a small house his family can call their own. But on a McDonald’s salary, that’s not going to happen anytime soon. So, keyboard muna. Well, at long last, the other day, JM did it! He brought home a keyboard and shot many pictures and videos of his son who was beside himself with joy! You know how much JM was saving for all this time, sisters & brothers? Four-thousand Pesos. Imagine? “You happy?” I asked on video-call. “Yes, me happy because son happy.”

JM must suffer a lot, sisters and brothers. He has only his wife and his son to really talk to at home. No one else knows how to sign. He’s always nervous when walking the sidewalks. He can’t hear vehicles he’s afraid might blindside him. He’s even more scared in bad weather: flying debris or falling branches. At work, JM communicates by gesturing or typing on his phone. But whenever he sees fellow employees laugh or look annoyed, and he catches their eye, JM wonders if he did something wrong. All this and more, he takes it all in silence. He’s long accepted that his many, many difficulties are par for the course of being poor and deaf. I don’t think JM exalts his suffering, though. But he embraces it all with both arms because two other people are more important in his life than his own: his hard-working wife and his music-loving son.

These days, sisters and brothers, it’s not so much people exalting suffering for its own sake that I’m worried about. It’s people who’ve sworn off any hardship, and use their God-given talents, opportunities, and authority to steal, and steal big-time, making other people suffer, people like JM, honest, hard-working people who have simple dreams. It’s not fair. One father has had to save money to buy his son a 4,000-peso present. While a handful wash ill-gotten millions clean in casinos. Not fair. While hundreds slog through flood waters, one family–just one–smuggles in a shiny, 42-million-peso Rolls Royce off the backs of everyday wage earners like JM. Do you know how much the built-in umbrella in each door costs, sisters and brothers? $700 dollars per payong.

So, no. We do not exalt suffering in the Exaltation of the Cross. Sure, Jesus took the form of a slave and came in human likeness; humbled himself, obedient even to death on a cross. But that cross stands for our love of people we freely carry in our tired but steady arms. If we had a choice, why would we choose to suffer for its own sake? No. Even if suffering is par for the course in true loving, we exalt the triumph of love over suffering. The cross stands for no greater love than to die for one’s friends. On the other hand, the cross is also a symbol of protest and condemnation of people who bring suffering upon other people. There’s no greater greed and vanity than to feast in mansions while hunger weeps outside.

A couple of weeks ago, JM’s wife sent me a picture of him up on the church altar, his head resting against the feet of the crucified Christ, his arms clutching onto Jesus’ legs like he’d never let go. JM doesn’t need a relic of the true cross. And neither do we, sisters and brothers. Because we share in Christ’s cross whenever we diminish our own needs so we may lift up each other. For me, that is a piece of the true Cross. No need for Vatican authentication.

*image from USCCB website