“I no longer call you servants,” says Jesus,
“rather now I call you friends, for I have made known to you everything that I
have heard from my Father.” Everything the Father has and is belongs to Jesus.
And he tells us that he wants to give it all to us- this everything of God’s
love.
“I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.” In the Gospel of John, Jesus speaks these words before his hour- the hour of his crucifixion, death and resurrection. It is this hour that will make everything clear. For this hour, this event with all of its unbearable horror and great mystery, is the hour of Jesus’ glorification. His friends are not yet ready for the truth of this hour.
It is only in the aftermath of Jesus’ hour that the Spirit will reveal to us all truth, the astonishing truth that God has brought us unending life and hope through Jesus’ crucified and disfigured humanity; all because love is worth it. Certainly this is reason enough to give thanks, rejoice greatly and celebrate today’s feast of The Exaltation of the Holy Cross.
The transept of the Abbey church in a photograph by Brother Daniel. This cross, venerated by the monks on each Good Friday, has a tiny reliquary with a fragment of the True Cross. Adorned as it is with flowers and candle, it will remain in the transept for today's Feast and tomorrow's Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows.
