THE TRIUMPHANT CROSS

Catholics make the sign of the Cross, a gesture that means so much – security, sacrifice and salvation.
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI says, “by signing ourselves with the cross, we place ourselves under the protection of the Cross, hold it in front of us like a shield that will guard us in all the distress of daily life and give us the courage to go on.”

The Church celebrates the Triumph of the Cross every 14th of September as Saint Helena discovered the True Cross in 320 and Constantine built a basilica above the grave of Jesus.

We carry different crosses in our life – from a mother who needs to get up early to prepare breakfast for the family, set the “baon” for the kids and husband, wash the dishes and laundry to being an innocent victim of disasters and wars and fighting for life due to man-made and natural calamities.

We need not grow weary, however, because we shall be lifted up just as “the Son of Man must be lifted up”( John 3:14). “As we keep this feast, we are lifted up with the crucified Christ, leaving behind us earth and sin so that we may gain the things above.”