The Triumph of the Cross (Archbishop Richard Smith)
September 16, 2008
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
“…God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” (John 3:16.)
Our Gospel passage for today, taken from St. John, is a summons to joy and hope. It announces the love of God for his people, and describes that love as active and near. God does not remain distant from his people, indifferent to their needs. On the contrary, God comes to us and steps into our human reality, complete with its joys and sorrows, hopes and pains, in order to lift us up, to be our strength and to save us from all that endangers us.
Throughout history this love of our God manifested itself in great deeds of rescue. When our ancestors in faith were suffering the hardship of slavery in Egypt, God intervened in their lives through Moses and led them to freedom. After this deliverance from slavery, God continued to sustain his people with miraculous gifts of food and water in the desert wilderness. And as we heard in the first reading, God even rescued his people when they brought suffering upon themselves as a result of their rebellion against him.
God’s greatest act of love and rescue is celebrated in today’s solemn feast of the Triumph of the Cross. We proclaim that, through the Cross of Jesus Christ, God has won victory over sin and, yes, even death itself! Jesus is the Son of Man “who has descended from heaven” (John 3: 13) and become one with us, one of us, so that, in him, we, too, might one day “ascend” to heaven and enjoy eternal life.
St. Paul describes this beautifully in the passage we heard from his letter to the Philippians. Out of love for the Father and for us, and in complete obedience to the Father’s will, Christ Jesus “emptied himself” by descending from heaven to assume our weak and sinful human nature. In his humanity he humbled himself even further through submission to the most shameful and terrifying of deaths, death on a cross. The passion of Jesus on the Cross was his perfect and obedient self-offering in love to the Father. By raising Jesus from the dead, the Father accepted the self-offering of our Lord and, in his Son, restored humanity to communion with himself. This is why we speak with joy of the triumph of the Cross. What was once a terrifying symbol of death has become the sign of God’s victorious love that leads to life!
Today’s proclamation of the Triumph of the Cross is, truly, gospel, that is to say, “good news”. It is an announcement that begs to be shared, so that all who suffer may find in God’s love, revealed and active in Jesus Christ, the unshakeable foundation of real hope. This is the mission of the Church: to announce to the world the good news of God’s love in Christ, to proclaim that, in Christ Jesus, we have found the reason for true hope. Such a proclamation to the world is what is meant by the term “evangelization”. The Church exists to evangelize, to make known the person of Jesus Christ and the life that the Father offers us in him.
Sadly, many people in our world today, even in our own country, province and city, have yet to hear this good news. Many do not even know who Jesus Christ is. This is why our beloved popes, most notably John Paul II of blessed memory and now Benedict XVI, have been calling the Church to a new evangelization. By “new” we do not mean to say that evangelization has yet to take place. It means acting with new zeal to find new ways and a new language, suited to the circumstances of our day, to proclaim Jesus Christ. For this to happen in a manner which is at once convinced and convincing, the members of the Church must also be renewed in their love for the Lord and their embracing of the faith of the Church.
This is why last May, in a pastoral letter issued for the feast of Pentecost, I announced an initiative by which the Archdiocese of Edmonton will respond to the call to a new evangelization here in Alberta. Beginning this December, we shall embark upon a five-year process of celebrating the beauty of the Church’s faith. Here at our Basilica Cathedral, a number of presentations will take place, in which catechists and witnesses will unveil the splendour of the faith we share as followers of Jesus Christ. Details will be provided through the parishes and institutions of the Archdiocese. My hope and prayer is that everyone in the Archdiocese will experience in these events a new and life-transforming encounter with Jesus Christ, who is always present whenever two or three gather in his name (cf. Matthew 18:20). Such an encounter cannot fail to inspire within our hearts a deep desire to tell others of the love and hope we have found in Jesus. As Pope Benedict has said, “There is nothing more beautiful than knowing Jesus Christ and telling others of our friendship with him.” (Homily at the Mass to Inaugurate the Petrine Ministry of Pope Benedict XVI). From these words of our Holy Father comes the title of our initiative: Nothing More Beautiful.
How ought we to prepare for this endeavour? In the three months that now separate us from the launch of Nothing More Beautiful, how do we get ready? As for any encounter with the Lord, we prepare through self-examination and prayer. Accordingly, I am today asking every member of the Archdiocese to pray for the light of the Holy Spirit and, in that light, to examine honestly and hopefully their relationship with Jesus Christ and His Church.
With respect to the person of Jesus Christ, let us ask ourselves: How would I describe my relationship with Jesus Christ? Do I truly know him, or do I simply know something about him? What am I doing, and what more can I do, to open my heart to his love: reading Scripture, praying before the Blessed Sacrament, actively participating in the Eucharist, doing works of charity? In what areas of my life do I need the Holy Spirit to touch me with the triumph of the Cross?
In relationship to the treasury of faith, we could ask ourselves: Am I truly living a Christian life? What witness do I give before others? How is the Lord calling me to repentance and change? Do I know the teachings of the Church? Is there an area of doctrine with which I struggle and need the help of the Holy Spirit? What am I doing, and what more can I do, not only to know but also to be transformed by the rich treasure of faith that has come to us from the Apostles?
Above all else, I ask for the prayers of the people of God in the Archdiocese. Please pray each day that this endeavour will give rise within the hearts of each of us to a renewed relationship with Jesus Christ. May this in turn deepen the joyful communion we share in him within the Church, and impel us to a new proclamation of hope to our world, by announcing the good news of the triumph of God’s love through the Cross of Jesus Christ. Amen.
22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time: Cycle A: Filled!
September 1, 2008
Having watched way too much of the Olympics for two weeks, I heard a lot of stories about athletes who trained very hard for many years to get to the Olympics. If you listen to their stories, you hear about the difficult times, and the times they wanted to give up, but the love of the sport and the joy of competing kept them going.
I remember training for a 90 km run many years ago. I can’t tell you how many times I would finish a hard training run with feet hurting, muscles aching. I especially remember a 32 km race that I did as a training run. I was so exhausted at the end of the run, that it felt like the walk to my car took more effort than running the 32 km. I remember saying to myself: “Is this worth it? Why am I doing this?” But then the pain and fatigue passed away and I realized that I just loved running, and I’d put my shoes back on and head out the door again the next day.
I thought about that as I listened to the first reading from Jeremiah. Jeremiah had been preaching in and around Jerusalem. He was criticizing the way the people worshipped in the Temple and because of that, he became very unpopular. It got so bad that the priest in charge of the Temple police took him into custody, had him beaten, and then put him in the stocks for a day. What we heard in the first reading, was Jeremiah talking to God – actually, yelling at God – after being released from the stocks. You see, when God called Jeremiah to be a prophet, Jeremiah tried to talk God out of it. He said that he didn’t know how to speak very well, and thought that he was too young. But God convinced him to accept this role. He said: “Do not be afraid…for I am with you to deliver you.” Well now Jeremiah is saying: “Where were you, God?” He said: “O Lord, you have enticed me…you overpowered me. I am now a laughing stock. Everyone mocks me.”
But then we hear the rest of the story. After being beaten and publicly humiliated – being angry with God and wanting to give up, Jeremiah says: “If I say, ‘I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,’ then within me there is something like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.” Just like I put those aching feet into my running shoes the next day, Jeremiah realized that even though he was physically and emotionally exhausted, and felt abused by God, he was so filled love and – yes – even joy for God’s message, that it filled him inside as if he would burst if he couldn’t talk about it.
Most of you have made popcorn in the microwave. When I read the first part of the reading from Jeremiah, I thought about the flat package of unpopped corn – lots of potential, but something was missing. And then he talked about the fire that filled him, and I pictured the bag bursting at the seams with beautifully popped kernels.
This last Thursday we celebrated the feast day of St. Augustine. As a young man, Augustine didn’t act much like a saint. He was a bit of a wild child. But his mother, St. Monica (whose feast day was last Wednesday) continually prayed for him. He eventually became a Catholic and is one of our greatest philosophers and theologians. One of his writings was included in our daily office for Thursday, and it reminded me of today’s reading from Jeremiah. St. Augustine said, talking to God: “Late have I loved you…You were within me, but I was outside…You were with me, but I was not with you. You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness…You dispelled my blindness…You touched me, and I burned for your peace.” St. Augustine burned for God’s peace just as Jeremiah felt God burning like a fire in his bones. The joy that filled St. Augustine literally jumps off the page.
The Gospel today describes a very important event in the ministry of Jesus. He had been preaching in Galilee and now the focus would turn to Jerusalem where he was to die. When he told this to the disciples, Peter got very upset: “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.” Peter was reacting as any friend would. When Jesus yelled at Peter, he was letting Peter and the others know that even though he knew this would be hard – he said he would undergo great suffering – it was something that he had to do because he was filled with love for his father and joy in fulfilling his father’s will. Like Jeremiah, he looked ahead and saw that the finish line was worth any of the difficulties that would come.
So we saw how Jeremiah was filled with the burning fire, how God shouted to St. Augustine until he let God’s love fill him up, and how Jesus, filled with his father’s love, turned bravely toward Jerusalem. Well God also wants to fill us to overflowing with his love and with his joy. But things get in the way. Remember how St. Augustine talked about being deaf and blind until God broke through.
But how do we do this? How do we let God fill us? St. Paul gives us some advice. He said: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Transform and renew the way you think about things. And Jesus said today: “Take up your cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.”
We open ourselves to God’s love – we allow ourselves to be filled – when we take the time to hold a door open for a stranger, when we send a letter to a government official protesting the Order of Canada for an abortion advocate, when we show love and forgiveness to our children (and our parents), when we put a couple extra bucks in the collection basket, when we take the time to pray to our God – the God who is always waiting to fill us up with his love and his joy.
Now we’ve talked a lot about Jeremiah, and about joy, so I think we should conclude with a very famous song about Jeremiah and joy, but his Jeremiah was a bullfrog. Please sing the chorus with me.
Joy to the world, all the boys and girls
Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea, joy to you and me.
Fill yourselves with God’s love and God’s joy!