By Father Brian Straus Today is the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, also known as the Triumph of the Holy Cross. These names may sound completely normal to you, but perhaps they shouldn’t. What I mean is that it’s objectively strange to think of a cross as something triumphant, to exalt an instrument of torture and death. When I was in college, a non-Christian friend of mine asked me why we Christians display the cross. Wouldn’t Jesus be offended that we are using the instrument of His death as our symbol and wearing it around our necks? My friend’s question sounds silly to anybody who is scripturally fluent, but I think it’s quite a logical question coming from somebody who is unfamiliar with the Bible and Christian faith.
A good thorough explanation of today’s feast. The section covering the Catholic view of merit was very helpful. I even learned a new word--retconning.