Daily Meditation for September 14, 2026

To have a feast exalting the cross, an instrument of torture, humiliation and death, can seem strange and perhaps uncomfortable. But we honor the cross on which Jesus died as a symbol of His redemptive love for us—enduring the degradation on our behalf. Jesus was lifted up on a cross, and He did so despite His status as Son of God, because as Son of God He accepted this final offering of self. Like Him, we embrace the cross as a sign of full giving of self—though our cross may be of our own making. We fashion crosses when we burden our lives with unworthy behavior, often by sins of omission as much as commission. We know our sinfulness, yet we continue to believe in redemption. Jesus triumphed over the cross and in doing so assures us that we can do so, too.

By Carol Berg, OSB