From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   Witness the joy of the Gospel   
      
   God chooses ordinary people, like you and me, as his ambassadors and   
   he uses the ordinary circumstances of our daily lives and work   
   situations to draw others into his kingdom. Jesus speaks the same   
   message to us today: we will "catch people" for the kingdom of God if   
   we allow the light of Jesus Christ to shine through us. God wants   
   others to see the light of Christ in us in the way we live, speak, and   
   witness the joy of the Gospel. Paul the Apostles says, "But thanks be   
   to God, who in Christ Jesus always leads us in triumph, and through us   
   spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are   
   the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among   
   those who are perishing" (2 Corinthians 2:15).   
      
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   September 14th - The Exaltation of the Holy Cross   
      
   You know that in ancient times the cross was an instrument of torment.   
   It was ignominious for any person to be crucified. It was a dishonor   
   for the person as well as for his family. Aware of this, St. Paul   
   asked not to be crucified because he was a Roman citizen, and Roman   
   citizens were not subject to crucifixion. He was beheaded with a sword   
   because this was a privilege of the Romans.   
      
   When Our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified, therefore, he suffered a   
   terrible humiliation. That shame was meant to signify that He was a   
   bandit, an outlaw of the same genre of the two thieves with whom He   
   was crucified. In this sense the crucifixion was not only a   
   humiliation, but the highest possible humiliation for any honest man.   
      
   You know that the Jews inflicted every humiliation they could upon Our   
   Lord during His life. This corresponded to their increasing hatred for   
   the good He represented. Finally they served to Him the supreme   
   humiliation, which was the sacrifice of the Cross. With this they   
   became the Deicide people.   
      
   Their desire to humiliate Our Lord as much as they could became   
   evident in the Passion. For example, the crown of thorns, the tunic of   
   the fool, the cane they placed in His hands as a scepter, the persons   
   who ridiculed Him and spit at Him, etc, express the desire to torment   
   Him not only in His Most Sacred Body, but also in His Most Holy Soul.   
   The Cross of Our Lord became the starting point of all the   
   humiliations that all Catholics would have to bear until the end times   
   for the cause of Our Lord Jesus Christ.   
      
   The forces of impiety never set aside their weapons against the good.   
   They are always seeking to humiliate and break the morals of the good.   
   None of you have been free from these humiliations because of your   
   fidelity to Our Lord. It is an honor for us. To be persecuted for the   
   love of Jesus Christ is one of the beatitudes. All of us had suffered   
   these humiliations and will suffer them to the end of History because   
   of the continuous outrages the impious ones make against God.   
      
   But, in parallel, the honor of God, the honor of Our Lord Jesus   
   Christ, is vindicated by the Church. Catholics take the Cross as a   
   symbol of honor, as the most sacred and holy thing we have, as the   
   symbol of our redemption. Because of this sentiment, on the top of   
   every Catholic church a Cross is placed; on the top of the most   
   majestic crowns, the Cross is planted.   
      
   Many of the greatest families have the Cross on their coat-of-arms.   
   Catholic decorations that reward the heroic deeds of a military man or   
   the generosity of a great benefactor have the shape of the Cross.   
   These are manifestations of the Catholic spirit which vindicate that   
   humiliation; they vindicate it with chivalric panache, with   
   supernatural panache. With this special manifestation of love, that   
   is, a reaction against the outrage of the enemies, the Catholic Church   
   celebrates the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.   
      
   To exalt the Holy Cross is to glorify it. The word ex-altare in Latin   
   means to elevate, to raise to a high place, which is to glorify. The   
   first sign of this was the apparition of the Cross in the sky to   
   Constantine before the battle of Milvia Bridge. Above that Cross was   
   written these words In Hoc Signo Vinces--Under the sign of the Cross   
   you will conquer. That Cross which appeared in the sky for the first   
   time then would remain on the horizon of all mankind throughout   
   History, humiliating the evil ones and the devils.   
      
   The Cross would also be the sign of our honor. Our honor does not lie   
   in avoiding humiliations, but in receiving them with panache and a   
   spirit of challenge. To those who humiliate us, we should respond as   
   knights and we should glorify the Cross of Our Lord even more   
   proudly.This is what exaltation means. It is to proclaim the glory of   
   God in face of the attempt of His enemies to humiliate Him. Our   
   attitude should smash the enemy's attempts to humiliate Our Lord.   
      
   There is an ejaculation in the litany of the rogations, which is this:   
   Ut inimicus Sanctae Matris Ecclesiae humiliare digneris, Te rogamus   
   audi nos– That Thou wouldst deign to humiliate the enemies of the Holy   
   Mother Church, we beseech Thee, hear us. So, the Church teaches us to   
   pray for the humiliation of our enemies. Therefore, the best way to   
   respond to the enemies who attempt to humiliate the Cross of Our Lord   
   and His followers is to humiliate those enemies; it is to humiliate   
   those who inflict humiliations. Doing this, we rescue the Cross that   
   lays in the dust of the despised, and raise it to the highest place.   
   We glorify what had been humiliated. This is the essence of the   
   exaltation of the Holy Cross.   
      
   False and sentimental piety takes an opposite position regarding the   
   Cross. It never thinks of the counter-attack Catholics should make to   
   exalt the Cross. The man with this sentimental mentality only   
   cultivates syrupy sentiments regarding the Cross and if he ever   
   considers its enemies, it is to flee from them under the pretext that   
   he is forgiving them. With this mentality the Church will never have   
   the true exaltation of the Holy Cross. To the contrary, when someone   
   tries to humiliate the Cross, we must respond with an even stronger   
   counter-attack. Not in defense of our honor, but in defense of the   
   honor of Our Lord Jesus Christ.   
      
   See    
   http://www.traditioninaction.org/SOD/j194sd_ExaltationCross_9-14.html   
      
      
   Bible Quote:   
   Him, who knew no sin, he hath made sin for us: that we might be made   
   the justice of God in him. Sin for us... That is, to be a sin   
   offering, a victim for sin.  [2 Co 5:21   
      
      
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   Prayer of the graces   
      
   Mary, Mother of the Eucharist,   
   precious gem of God,   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)