Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

The Exaltation of the Cross consists in the fact that "the event of the cross and Resurrection abides and draws everything toward life" (CCC 1085). We exalt Christ's cross whenever we freely take it up, filled with certainty that the ultimate meaning and fulfillment which we crave in life comes to us through this unending event. "With the cross we are freed from  the restraint of the enemy and we clutch on to the strength of salvation" (St Theodorus the Studite). For Salvation means escape from out own inability. At the same time, "we cannot produce or give any other fruit," writes St Catherine of Siena,"but the fruit we have taken from the tree of life". No wonder that "the sign of the cross makes kings of all those reborn in Christ" (St Leo the Great)

- daily reflection from Magnificat