23rd Week of Ordinary Time, Thursday, 9-14-23, Year A
Readings: 1st Reading Nm 21:4b-9; Ps 78:1bc,34-38; 2nd Reading Phil 2:6-11; Gospel Jn 3:3-17
Feast: Exaltation of the Holy Cross
Theme: Tree of Life
When all the trees are gone, life on this earth, as we know it, will cease to exist. Without trees, there is no cleaning of the air or the exchanging of carbon dioxide for life-giving oxygen. Without trees, there is no shade to hide from the burning heat of the sun or protection from rain and snow. Without trees, there is no habitat for birds, food for animals and man, lumber for homes and structures, paper for books and writings. The list goes on and on. Trees get very little credit for all they do in our lives.
God knew the beauty of trees and the sacredness of their existence in nature – that is why He put this blessed creation in the center of His garden calling it the “Tree of Life”. From there, trees form an integral part of salvation history. Noah built the arc from trees. Moses’s staff was most likely from a tree. The arc of the covenant was transported by two wooden poles made from trees when moved. The Temple in Jerusalem used precious cedars from Lebanon in its construction. Jesus was born in a manger made of wood from trees. St. Joseph was a carpenter, who worked with the wood of trees his entire adult life. Jesus learned the same trade from Joseph and came to know the value of wood. Jesus saw Nathaneal under the fig tree, found no duplicity in him, and chose him as a disciple.
Finally, it was the wood of a tree that was used to support the crucified Christ on its members, His blood, sweat, and tears soaking into its grain, staining it crimson.
It is only fitting that the wood of a tree, which supports our earthly life and spiritual life, should be used to support Christ in His final moments on earth. The sturdy structure, smooth grain and warm feel of wood did all it could to hold up Jesus in His most dire time. The wood did not falter or bend. It did not break or sag. It stood firm, holding on to Jesus as best it could to help keep Him visible for all to see the salvation being wrought through His death.
God chose the one material from nature worthy of supporting His Son in this final act of love. In God’s divine plan, revealed to us here on Earth through His Son Jesus, only the wood of a tree would be worthy enough to support the love and forgiveness that would lay upon it, upon the Tree of Life.
After Jesus’s crucifixion, little is known of what happened to the three crosses, nails, and rope that was used. About 300 years after Jesus’s crucifixion, St. Helena, the mother of Constantine, took a trip to the Holy Land to recover Christian relics and artifacts.
Between the years 326 and 328, during her searches in the Holy Land, she discovered a pagan temple that was built over the site of the crucifixion. She had it torn down and then excavated several areas around that site. She discovered three crosses buried there. It is said that St. Helena brought a woman who was near death to the site and had her place her hand on each cross. Nothing happened when she touched the first two crosses, but when she placed her hand on the third cross she suddenly recovered. Helena declared the third cross to be the True Cross.1
At Jerusalem, already in the 5th century, on the day after the feast of the dedication of the Basilica of the Resurrection (Sept 13, 335), the wood of the Holy Cross was shown to the people. This rite gave rise to today’s feast, celebrated with great solemnity in all the Eastern Rites and accepted at Rome in the 7th century.2
Today we celebrate that wood of the cross by exalting it as Holy and understanding all that that wood means. Through the life of a tree, its very essence and substance, its wood, held onto God for our salvation. We should venerate this beautiful work of God’s creation and come appreciate all Jesus and the tree did for us.
1 – From Catholic.org – Saints & Angels – St. Helena
2 – St. Joseph Weekday Missel, Vol 2 – Sept 14 – The Exaltation of The Holy Cross
Saint James Catholic Church 