From Archbishop Donoghue

Mass: Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

Atlanta Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women

September 14, 2003

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Dear Friends in Christ,

Today's great blessing is that God has brought us together, on this closing day of the Atlanta Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women's annual convention, to celebrate the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. "Exaltation" is one of those beautiful and slightly old-fashioned words, which has two meanings. The first is the raising of a person to the status of god-hood. We understand by this, not that the cross itself has a divine character - but that the cross, for all times, will be the definitive symbol of God's love in the lives of men and women. The second meaning of exaltation, is the state of begin carried away or overwhelmed by emotion. And this too, is a fitting description of what the cross can cause to happen in us. For in the mystery of Christ's death, in the mystery of His overwhelming love, our emotions are carried to the extreme limit of their capabilities. In finding, in feeling, in understanding the exalted sacrifice of Christ on the Cross, we are touched by the gift of His life, by the power of His death; and by witnessing His overwhelming love, we are carried into a state of exaltation - a state where we can know - or better, where we are given to know, the goal of our hopes, the substance of our faith - that by His death, Christ has gained for us, eternal life.

These are mystic thoughts, but there is no way to really understand and appreciate this feast, unless we begin with the truth that the Church gives us - that the cross soars above all other signs of God's love for us, and the extent to which He has gone, to win our souls.

But there are practical lessons for us to learn as well from today's feast, suggested by the event it commemorates, and by the readings appointed for the day - practical lessons that both point the future way for you, the women of our Church, and serve as recognition for the work you have already done.

We cannot speak of this feast without recalling one of the greatest women of all time, St. Helena , and her discovery of the relics of the True Cross, somewhere around the year 325 A.D. Unfortunately, in modern times, much skepticism has been expressed with regard to the relics of the True Cross, but if you care to investigate the actual chronicle of this fascinating segment of Church history, you will find that there is far more truth than fiction.

But what we want to appreciate today, is the character of St. Helena . She was indeed a most remarkable woman. In her youth, she captured the attention and won the heart of the future Roman ruler Constantius Chlorus, and bore him her only child, the future emperor Constantine. Later, Chlorus divorced Helena , for political reasons. But she remained faithful to her son, and when he ascended the imperial throne, he restored his mother, and called her by the ancient title " Augusta ." After her conversion, she became a tireless champion of Christianity, and built many churches throughout the Roman world. When she was about seventy-five years old, she undertook her historic journey to the Holy Land , where the Church believes, she discovered the relics of the cross upon which our Lord died. Helena died sometime around 330 A.D., at the age of eighty. Having shown great character from her youth on, and then, at what was for the time, extreme old age, undertaken a journey of spiritual exploration and discovery, thousands of miles from her home in the West, the Empress Helena very soon became venerated for her heroic life, and in time, was raised by the Church to sainthood.

The lesson of her life for us, is that God can instill courage and vision into anyone - male of female, young or old - and that He will take us, if we let Him, upon amazing journeys in our lives, to find truths destined for the elevation of all mankind, and to reveal, again and again, the many ways He has loved us, through the life and death of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Nobility of character, and purposeful courage, though estimable virtues, are not enough, however, if we are to prove effective leaders and helpers, for our Church and for our society. We must also have, as God has intended us to have, ingenuity . We must understand the needs of people, as Moses understood the needs of his people, a fact related to us in the first reading heard on this Feast.

God understands, as do His prophets and teachers, that people need something tangible, something to guide them, something that, with their senses, they can see and touch - something from which they can feel the transmission of Divine power, feel grace enter their bodies and souls, and make them different and new. This is certainly true on the sacramental level, since sacraments themselves are signs, perceptible, living signs of God's interaction with us. But the Father also wills that we offer concrete signs to those we wish to help, to guide, to lead.

One way we do this, is by the societies we form, and by how we present our initiatives and goals to people. You, the members of the AACCW have successfully done this in a number of ways: especially through your annual recognition of outstanding servants of the Church, both women and young people - and as we recognize today, through the visibility of your leadership , a leadership we confirm and continue at this Mass, with the installation of new officers for the coming term.

Your officers are more than figureheads at the podium - they are channels of inspiration and action, who facilitate in two directions, the energy that invigorates your organization - the energy that flows from your desire to do good, and the energy that comes from on High, meeting your desire, and producing a wealth of goodness - goodness born in human courage and ingenuity, and enlivened by grace, the power of God to bring about the good that He desires.

Dear friends, the final lesson for us this morning combines the mystical and the practical, for it comes from the One who is Himself, the perfect meeting of the Divine and the human.

Whether we are leaders or followers, officers or members, we all look to a higher level for guidance. We know that those in the world who declare their own standards, who follow their own rule, rush to confusion and destruction. But our Faith commands that we follow a higher standard, a standard that comes from revelation. And when we cast our eyes upwards, to find the standard, to find the guidance that we all need, it is not a bronze serpent mounted on a pole - nor is it a mystery unseen in the depths of the universe, hidden by a cloud of unknowing.

For our standard, our sign is a living and dying man, mounted upon a cross, bearing unbearable wounds of suffering, suffering for the whole world, for the entirety of time, and for the balance of all human shortcomings. Our standard is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who calls us, who saves us, who leads us from the Cross - the throne of sacrifice, exalted above all seats of power, and the object of our remembrance today. The cross, salvation's throne, is exalted by the One who sits upon it, and we are exalted by the love which flows from His wounds, from His heart, purifying our hearts, and inspiring our souls.

Today, at this Mass, join your prayers to mine, that the membership of the Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women, in union with the Church you serve so well, may continue to be raised by the Holy Spirit, into the embrace of this Most Exalted Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. And thus, may our obedience and our service, confirm and exemplify, not our will, but the will of the Father, spoken by the Son:

…so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life."

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