Posted by The WORD in other words (2010) by Fr Antonio Pernia, SVD – General Superior, Rome
Exaltation of the Cross – September 14 2025
My first trip as superior general was to the “first love” of the SVD, Mainland China, in 2000. At that time, a confrere, Fr. Heinz Hesselfeld, was director of the Institute of Nutrition which was a joint project of the University of Nanchang in central China and the East Asia Institute in Germany. One afternoon Fr. Heinz took me to his rather large office in the Institute. At one point in our conversation, he said: “I have only one Christian picture here in this office”. At this I turned and looked around in the office. And I said: “But, Fr. Heinz, there is no Christian picture in this office”. Then Fr. Heinz, with a naughty smile on his face, pointed to a huge frame which contained a Chinese character. He said it was the Chinese character for “light” (Guang), and then proceeded to show me how to look at it and see the form of a cross. Then he said: “This is my Christian picture here. And how fitting! For the cross of Jesus is the true light of the world”.
Indeed, the cross of Jesus is the true light of the world. Ever since the Divine Word became a man like us in “all things but sin”, ever since he lived among us in selfless service to others, ever since his life of service culminated with his death on the cross, a light has entered the world – a light which illumines human existence. The cross shows us that the true meaning of human existence lies not in keeping life for ourselves but in giving it up for others, not in zealously guarding life but in selflessly losing it for our sisters and brothers. The message of the cross is that the real value of life lies not in self-possession but in self-giving.
In the life of the Trinity, all that the Father is is given to the Son; all that the Son is is received from the Father; the Spirit is the total giving and receiving in love between the Father and the Son. When God gave his only Son to the world, he gave all of himself to us. God did not hesitate to lose his only Son so that he may gain all men and women as his children. In so doing, however, God regained his Son as the first born among many sons and daughters.
As God’s children, we are called to be like the Father. We are called to be unafraid to lose our most precious possession in order to win brothers and sisters for Christ and sons and daughters for the Father. For, in doing so, we will only regain our most precious possession transformed and transfigured in Christ. “Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses it will save it” (Lk 17:33).
Today’s feast celebrates the transformation of the cross from an instrument of punishment to a means of salvation, from a sign of shame and defeat to a symbol of victory and glory. Self-giving is never easy. It entails pain and sacrifice and even death. That is one aspect of the cross. But, ultimately, self-giving confers meaning to our existence and is the way to our salvation. This is the other aspect of the cross. This is the exaltation of the cross.
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