Sunday Reflection with Canon Robin Gibbons: 14 September 2025

Donkey in Clovelly, north Devon

Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

Or in our Eastern Churches, Catholic and Orthodox: The Feast of The Triumph of the Cross
(1,990th anniversary of its inception!)

A short bit of history:

There are several feasts of the Cross, all of which focus on the triumphant gift the Cross is for all Christians, the sign of our redemption through Christ's self offering, the key not only to our understanding of sin and forgiveness, death and resurrection but of our new life in the Kingdom. It is also the sign by which we make ourselves known as followers of the Christ, and in making it we bring blessings not only upon ourselves, but on our world and all that is in it.

Historically this is the story of this feast: In Christian tradition, the True Cross on which Christ was crucified was discovered by Saint Helena, the mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great, during a pilgrimage she made to Jerusalem in 326 CE. At the site of the discovery the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was built, by order of Helena and Constantine. This church was dedicated nine years later in 335 CE, with a portion ( one-third) of the cross being kept there as a relic for veneration. One-third was brought to Rome and deposited in the Sessorian basilica Santa Croce in Gerusalemme (Holy Cross in Jerusalem), and one-third was taken to Constantinople.

The date of the feast marks the dedication of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in 335. This was a two-day festival: the actual consecration of the church was on 13 September, the cross itself was brought outside the church on 14 September so that the clergy and faithful could pray before the Cross and come forward to venerate it.

Reflection

1. An Ecumenical Feast

This feast is celebrated by many Christian Church traditions; Roman Catholic, Eastern Catholic, Eastern and Oriental Orthodox, as well as certain Protestant traditions such as the Anglican and Lutheran Churches, so in a very real sense it is an ecumenical celebration during which we might remind ourselves that we all share in a common baptism, during which we were claimed for Christ by being signed by the sign of the cross which was followed by our baptism in water by either triple immersion or pouring with the invocation: 'I baptise you…N.. In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.' A lot of us will not remember that moment unless we were of an age to understand fully what was going on, but from that point onwards the sign of the cross became a part of our faith life and familiar to us in the liturgy and at our devotions in public and private. Even those who have lapsed from formal Church still know how to make that sign and often do so. I like to think that in doing that they remain fixed firmly in the life and love of Christ, for this symbol and the making of it reaches deep into the wordless reservoirs of grace and prayer.

2. For ourselves this day

Maybe our attitude to this feast needs to be more childlike, because far too often religious traditions have a habit of their original meanings being overlaid by people's personal piety. Think of where you find crosses in your life? If you are a Catholic it is probable that you will have a crucifix in your home and that imge is one where the figure of the crucified and dying or dead Christ rests. To dwell on the passion and death of the Lord is a valuable form of piety, in our wider Christian tradition it is meant not only to draw us closer to the Lord Jesus, but to recognise what his saving gift, his self offering means for us and the world.

However if you are a member of an Eastern Catholic Church instead of this form of cross you might have an icon cross, gilded in gold with other images on it, a cross yes of the dying Lord, but also infused with the second part of its meaning, that of this feast, the hope, joy, power over death of the resurrection that it shares with us. We need this side of the cross because it saves us from a gloomy preoccupation with sin and death but helps take us to the gate of paradise, the entry to our everlasting home on the love of God, with all the blessed. Maybe that can be part of our thoughts and prayers this day, one in which we se the dead wood of the cross turn into the new tree of Eden, its fruit Christ Jesus, whom in the Eucharist we taste and eat so that we may have knowledge of Him, forgiveness of our sins and His promise of eternal life. But I also encourage us all to place a cross, either crucifix or Icon in our homes as a sign of our Christian faith, but also as a symbol of our belonging to Christ and to make that sign on ourselves in prayer as and when we need to, it is consecration of our whole selves to the vocation we have as baptised Catholic Christians.

3. The very ancient hymn of Philippians 2:6-11

I hope the scripture readings this Sunday enter your inner thoughts, but rather than comment on each I would like to share a few thoughts about the hymn found in Philippians 2, which is our second reading. Scripture scholars do not think it is written by Paul, but is an earlier hymn belonging to the Christian Community. It is evident when we read it that the style and content are different from the rest of the letter and it has a cadence and rhythm that suggests it belongs not only with poetry but with music. I find it fascinating in the way it takes us on a journey of descent with Christ in the form of God, suddenly linking entirely with us, making the same journey in human life to where we fearfully go, that is to death-and then breaking the bonds of death. Christ is then found being exalted by God, surging into the dimensions of glorious, eternal transcendent and resurrected life in God, and the hint is, that we shall too, if we take on his name, share in his cross, sign ourselves so fully with it that we become one with him

.'…he humbled himself,
becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.*

Because of this, God greatly exalted him

and bestowed on him the name*

that is above every name'.(Phillippians 6:8,9)

4.The donkey's cross

Occasionally I like to submerge myself in a journey out of my faith comfort zone, to experience prayer with others not of my faith community, and so I occasionally like to share in the Friday service of a synagogue, this for several reasons, to experience another community who shares in the belief of the One God. This in order to learn in a humbler way, the story of salvation as seen and experienced in those chosen by God and also amongst other things to make me aware of the roots of Jesus and of my own faith. One thing I often enjoy is the exuberance and humour of the service and the stories that the Rabbi tells to make a point clearer. So following that example I want to end with a simple but powerful story, that of the Donkey's cross, as told from the folklore of Christian tradition. It's simple, we start with the Palm Sunday story.

The donkey is a beast of burden, but one of the most loyal animals humans know, though to our shame, one of the most mistreated.

It was on a little donkey that the Lord chose to ride in triumph into Jerusalem, the Divine One choosing one of the humblest animals amongst us. As the tale goes, the donkey knew exactly who Jesus was and responded to the love and care shown by Jesus with its own devotion and love. Seeing Jesus carrying his cross the donkey wished to help but was unable to. Nevertheless it followed him to his crucifixion, where the donkey was overwhelmed with grief. SS it stood there the shadow of the cross touched on the donkey's back, and as a mark of God's love and in memory of its loyalty, love and devotion, it was said that the Lord let that shadow mark the donkey and its descendants for ever, ,creating the distinctive cross-shaped marking found on many donkeys today left there as a symbol of their humble service and love. I like that tale, it has its variations and the Nubian donkey still has that cross-shaped mark. It's also a humble tale putting us in our place, reminding each of us that the least and ignored often are much closer to the heart of Christ than we are at some points in our life. May the donkey's cross remind us of the mark we too bear inwardly, the cross of Christ's love for us, and may that loyal creature inspire in us a greater loyalty to all creatures in our care.

Lectio

One side of the Cross

Gregory the Theologian makes a detailed comparison between Christ's sufferings and Adam's fall:

For each of our debts we are given to in a special way … The tree of the Cross has been given for the tree we tasted of; for our hand stretched out greedily, we have been given arms courageously extended; for our hands following their own inclination, we have been given hands nailed to the Cross; for the hand that has driven out Adam, we have been given arms uniting the ends of the earth into one. For our fall we have been given his raising up on a Cross; for our tasting of the forbidden fruit, we have been given his tasting of bile; for our death, his death; for our return to the earth, his burial.

The other: Cyril of Jerusalem, is this the Tree of Life?
"Although to Adam it was said, 'For the day you eat of it, you must die,' today you have been faithful. Today will bring you salvation. The tree brought ruin to Adam; the tree [of life] shall bring you into paradise. Fear not the serpent; he shall not cast you out, for he has fallen from heaven. I say not to you, 'This day you shall depart,' but 'This day you shall be with Me.'" Catechetical Lectures.

Ephrem,

How could this man be both divine and human?

If he was not flesh, whom did the Jews arrest? And if he was not God, who gave an order to the earth and threw them onto their faces.

If he was not flesh, who was struck with a blow? And if he was not God, who cured the ear that had been cut off by Peter and restored it to its place?

If he was not flesh, who received spitting on his face? And if he was not God, who breathed the Holy Spirit into the faces of his Apostles?

If he was not flesh, who stood before Pilate at the judgement seat? And if he was not God, who made Pilate's wife afraid by a dream?

If he was not flesh, whose garments did the soldiers strip off and divide? And if he was not God, how was the sun darkened at the cross?

If he was not flesh, who was hung on the cross? And if he was not God, who shook the earth from its foundations?

If he was not flesh, whose hands and feet were transfixed by nails? And if he was not God, how was the veil of the temple rent, the rocks broken and the graves opened?

If he was not flesh, who cried out, "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me"? And if he was not God, who said "Father, forgive them"?

If he was not flesh, who was hung on a cross with the thieves? And if he was not God, how did he say to the thief, "Today you will be with me in Paradise"?

If he was not flesh, to whom did they offer vinegar and gall? And if he was not God, on hearing whose voice did Hades tremble?

If he was not flesh, whose side did the lance pierce, and blood and water came out? And if he was not God, who smashed to gates of Hades and tear apart it bonds? And at whose command did the imprisoned dead come out?

If he was not flesh, whom did the Apostles see in the upper room? And if he was not God, how did he enter when the doors were shut?

If he was not flesh, the marks of the nails and the lance in whose hands and side did Thomas handle? And if he was not God, to whom did he cry out, "My Lord and my God"?

Sermon on the Transfiguration