THE THIRTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY
HOLY CROSS DAY
12th September 2025
Greetings,
Breakfast@Nine returns this Sunday after the Summer break. Looking at the Pew Sheet it seems to herald a season of feasting with the Bread & Soup Lunch on Tuesday, the Parish Barbecue Sunday next, and Harvest Festival on 5th October. As a period of indulgence it may help soften the transition from Summer to Autumn and dispel the blues associated with those long hours of darkness. In coming months worship will be dominated once again by the theme of light shining in the darkness but this Sunday our focus is very much on the primary symbol of our faith, the Cross, for 14th September is Holy Cross Day. It's an ancient observance whose origins are a little confused but the customary story is that Helena, mother of the Roman emperor Constantine, whilst overseeing excavations in Jerusalem, uncovered a cross believed to be that of Christ himself. On the site of that discovery The Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre was dedicated on 14th September 335.
Holy Cross Day is also known as The Exaltation of the Holy Cross for it is about the Cross as victory. Tradition has it that Helena's son Constantine won The Battle of the Milvian Bridge, thus securing his power in Rome, after seeing a vision of the Cross with the words under this sign conquer. It is tragically ironic that in that instance, as in many others since, the Cross was seen as divine endorsement of military might. That shortest of biblical sentences comes to mind; Jesus wept (John 11.35). I imagine Constantine was an astute politician for whom Christianity was a convenient means to an end. There have been others since! He probably had little or no interest in the beguiling mystery of the Cross, it's declaration of the supreme irony of God who reveals strength in weakness, victory in defeat, eternal life in mortal death. That mystery stands at the heart of our faith and it is what we affirm and celebrate this Sunday.
Blessings,
Charles Booth
The Pew Sheet with readings and notices is attached.
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