Homily For This Sunday - 14th September 2025 (The Exaltation of the Holy Cross)

My brothers and sisters in Christ,

Today, as we celebrate the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, our readings present us with one of the most profound paradoxes of our faith: that the instrument of torture and death has become our symbol of salvation. At the heart of today's readings is a message that resonates with the meaning of the Cross itself – God's extraordinary mercy toward sinners.

In our first reading from Exodus, we encounter a pivotal moment in Israel's history. The people whom God had just rescued from slavery in Egypt through mighty signs and wonders have turned away from Him with shocking speed. While Moses is on Mount Sinai receiving the commandments, the Israelites are below fashioning a golden calf to worship. God's response is understandably one of anger: "I see how stiff-necked this people is. Let me alone, then, that my wrath may blaze up against them to consume them."

Yet what happens next reveals the heart of God. Moses intercedes for the people, reminding God of His covenant promises. And remarkably, "the LORD relented in the punishment he had threatened to inflict on his people." This moment of divine mercy foreshadows what would be fully revealed on the Cross – that God's deepest desire is not punishment but reconciliation.

Saint Paul, in our second reading, offers himself as a living testimony to this divine mercy. He writes, "I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and arrogant, but I have been mercifully treated." Paul doesn't minimize his sins – he was, by his own admission, "the foremost" of sinners. Yet he received mercy "that in me, as the foremost, Christ Jesus might display all his patience as an example for those who would come to believe in him."

This brings us to today's Gospel, where Jesus tells three parables about God's relentless pursuit of the lost. The shepherd leaves ninety-nine sheep to find one. The woman searches diligently for a single lost coin. And most memorably, a father watches and waits for his prodigal son to return, then runs to embrace him when he appears on the horizon.

Pope Francis reminds us that "God never tires of forgiving us; we are the ones who tire of seeking his mercy." These parables reveal a God who does not wait passively for us to return, but actively seeks us out in our lostness. The Cross stands as the ultimate expression of this seeking love.

On this Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, we are invited to see the Cross not merely as an instrument of suffering, but as the definitive revelation of God's mercy. As Saint John Paul II wrote, "The Cross is the most profound bowing down of the Divinity to man... The Cross is like a touch of eternal love upon the most painful wounds of human existence."

Consider the father in the parable of the Prodigal Son. When his son demanded his inheritance early – essentially wishing his father dead – the father gave it to him. When the son squandered everything and returned home expecting punishment, the father ran to him, embraced him, and restored him to full sonship. This is not the action of someone who simply forgives a debt. This is the action of someone who loves beyond all measure, who suffers the pain of rejection yet never stops loving.

This is what God did for us on the Cross. In the words of Saint Augustine, "God loves each of us as if there were only one of us to love." The Cross reveals that God's love is not abstract or distant – it is deeply personal. Jesus didn't die for humanity in general; He died for you and for me.

Our psalm today gives us the proper response to such love: "A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn." Like the prodigal son, we come before God acknowledging our sins, trusting not in our own righteousness but in God's mercy. "Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness; in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense."

The question for each of us today is: Where do we stand in relation to the Cross? Are we like the older son in the parable, standing at a distance, resentful of God's mercy to others? Are we like the prodigal, needing to turn back to the Father? Or perhaps we're like the lost sheep or coin, not even aware that we're lost, while God is actively seeking us?

The Catechism teaches us that "The Cross is the unique sacrifice of Christ, the 'one mediator between God and men'" (CCC 618). When we look upon the Cross, we see both the seriousness of sin and the immensity of God's love. Sin is not trivial – it required the sacrifice of God's only Son. Yet God's mercy is greater still.

As we prepare to receive the Eucharist – the perpetual memorial of Christ's sacrifice on the Cross – let us remember that the same body broken for us and the same blood poured out for us on Calvary are made present on this altar. In the Eucharist, we don't simply remember a past event; we participate in the eternal reality of Christ's self-giving love.

Brothers and sisters, the message of the Cross is this: No matter how far we have strayed, God's mercy reaches farther still. No matter how lost we become, the Good Shepherd never stops searching. No matter how much we have squandered our inheritance, our Father waits with open arms to welcome us home.

Today, as we exalt the Holy Cross, let us also embrace the mercy it offers. Let us, like Paul, become living testimonies to that mercy. And let us join in the heavenly rejoicing over every sinner who returns to God.

Amen.