THERE IS CAUSE FOR REJOICING HERE
Every parish has a patronal feast day. Our multi-campus parish is blessed to have multiple patrons and feasts, but today is our ‘titular feast’ or nameday: the Exaltation of the Holy Cross! We have good reasons for rejoicing this weekend which is why we are throwing a little three-day parish festival called SeptemberFest.
One of the things that we know most certainly about the Cross upon which Jesus Christ died to redeem us is that it was firmly planted in the ground. There was a geographical place outside of the ancient city of Jerusalem where the Cross stood upright. The Precious Blood of Jesus dripped down on that handful of souls who remained close to the Cross of Christ. The ‘here-ness’ of the Cross is hopeful because it assures us that what happened upon it redounds to our good if only we draw close. What a profound intuition our ancestors in faith had who named our parish for the Holy Cross and thereby claimed here in Northeast Minneapolis the mystery of Jesus’ saving death and triumph won upon the Cross. We can imitate Mary and St. John who stood fast as recalled in the beloved hymn sung at Stations of the Cross, the Stabat Mater; At the Cross Her Station Keeping.
This Sunday we are blessed to welcome Auxiliary Bishop Michael Izen to celebrate the 9:30 am Sung Mass at Holy Cross and visit the SeptemberFest grounds. It is no small thing to have one of the successors to the apostles visiting to preach and offer the Holy Mass! At this busy time of year when many parishes are hosting their festivals I am thankful for his generosity in being with us for this festive occasion. My thanks are due to all who have been involved in making this year’s SeptemberFest such a great success, especially our booth leaders, volunteers, musicians and entertainers, parish staff, and all who have worked both in obvious and less obvious ways. It takes an enormous amount of preparation, effort and teamwork to make a festival weekend like this happen. If you’re visiting our parish this weekend, my hope is that you are inspired to want to come back. Thanks to all the businesses, organizations and individuals who were so generous as donors and sponors to help make SeptemberFest a financial success as well.
Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us...and teach us to stand firm in hope beneath the Cross!
-Fr. Howe