Every year on 14th September, the Church celebrates the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. At first it might seem odd to exalt something used as an instrument of torture. But it’s because of what Christ accomplished on the Cross that we rejoice. What the world saw as shame, God transformed into the instrument of our salvation.

The Cross is the very centre of human history, because Christ’s Sacrifice redeems every age. Everything in the Old Testament prepared for it. The blood sacrifices of lambs and goats in the Temple all pointed towards the true Sacrifice that would take away the sins of the world. And it was fulfilled when Christ, the true Lamb of God, was lifted up on the Cross on Good Friday, which Our Lord Himself prophesied in today’s Gospel (John 3:13-17), when He said to Nicodemus, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life.” Then everything after Calvary flows from it: the Resurrection, the birth of the Church, the Sacraments, the saints, and every grace given until the end of time. All of this comes through the merits Christ won on the Cross. Calvary was the place where sin was defeated, death was conquered and the gates of Heaven were opened.

This then brings us to the Sacrifice of the Mass. Holy Mass is not separate from Calvary – it is Calvary. Suppose you had a time machine and could travel back to Good Friday. You could be standing right next to Our Lady and St John and St Mary Magdalene at the foot of the Cross. You would see JESUS, having poured out all His Blood die to save you and the whole world. But at Mass, God does something even greater than a time machine. He makes the Sacrifice of JESUS on Good Friday present to us right now on the altar. It’s not another sacrifice or a mere reminder. It is the same Sacrifice of Calvary, but without blood and suffering. JESUS offers Himself to the Father again, through the priest at the altar for you and for me, and for the whole world.

You may have noticed that when Mass is celebrated at St Mary’s, there is always a central cross on the altar. The cross is there because Calvary and the Mass are one and the same thing. The priest doesn’t just say prayers like a Protestant minister. He stands in the place of Christ – “in persona Christi” offering the same Sacrifice to God the Father. The bread and wine at the Consecration become the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of JESUS Christ Who died on that Cross. This is why the altar (and tabernacle) are the focal point in every Catholic Church, because it is on an altar that sacrifice is offered. Of course, on Good Friday, there was no altar of stone like we see in our churches today. The Cross itself was the altar, because it’s where JESUS offered the Sacrifice of His Body and Blood to the Father. In a Protestant church there is no altar. They have a table or a pulpit as the focal because there is no sacrifice.

So when you go to Mass, you are truly at Calvary. Time disappears, and you are there with Our Lady, St John and St Mary Magdalene, just as if you were there on Good Friday. That’s why the Cross is the centre of our faith, because everything we believe and everything we receive comes from JESUS’ Sacrifice.

Fr Paul Gillham, IC