The feast day of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross isn’t really about the events of Good Friday so much as it is about the finding of what was believed to be the true cross by St. Helena in Jerusalem in 326 and its subsequent veneration by the church. The day is about celebrating the triumph of the cross, and Christianity, over the forces of evil and death. We are reminded that Christ said, “I, if I am lifted up, will draw all men unto me.” The cross was the instrument upon which he was tortured and murdered, at the hands of a brutal Roman government and a religious cabal among his own people who had rejected him. But his death was not the end, or that cross would have been forgotten and lost to the dusts of time. 

The events of the past week remind us of those forces of evil and opposition to God’s love. Random acts of hate, and targeted acts of political violence have shocked us recently. In the span of a few short days, I have seen the senseless killing of a young woman on a train in North Carolina, the murder of children attending a Christian mass at a Catholic school in Minnesota, and the commemoration of the death and mayhem of the 9/11/2001 terrorist attacks. As if that isn’t enough, this was followed very shortly by the brutal murder of Charlie Kirk on the same day as another school shooting. 

One of these horrors, the murder of Charlie Kirk, seems to have the makings of a cultural moment, similar to 9/11. This seems at least true for the younger generations in our country, and even those beyond our borders.  He was as bold in sharing his Christian faith as he was in advocating his political ideas. Therefore I also mourn his loss as a brother in Christ.

As we pray for the family of Mr. Kirk, and for all these victims, we draw our eyes back to that cross, representing both death and triumph.  On this side of paradise we see only the death, but we also cling to the promise of triumph. In the end, God’s love will prevail over the evil and hate. The cross reminds us that God promises that all the wickedness that we endure (and also, if we are honest, perpetrate) will be redeemed into triumph. Thanks to that ugly, nail pocked wood, now splintered up into bits and pieces and residing in countless shrines across the world, our pain will be subsumed into a glorious new reality at the end of time, where all tears will be wiped away and only laughter and joy prevail.