Are You Tending Your Tree?

( Homily originally given for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, September 14, 2014) 
 

In honor of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, I will first give you a little history, a little trivia, and then will share with you what the Cross means to me.

First, a little history. 

Theological virtues: Sign of our Faith; the Promise of Hope; a Witness to Love

The first certain evidence we have of the use of this sign is from the ecclesiastical writer Tertullian (230 AD) who tells us that candidates for baptism are marked with a sign of the cross on their foreheads during the course of their catechumenate (formation). …  "In all our travels and movements", says Tertullian (De cor. Mil., iii), "in all our coming in and going out, in putting of our shoes, at the bath, at the table, in lighting our candles, in lying down, in sitting down, whatever employment occupieth us, we mark our foreheads with the sign of the cross".

Western Church – left to right; Eastern Church right to left.

Some people hold thumb, index and middle fingers together, leaving other two separate – three representing Trinity and other two the human/divine nature.

Before Gospel, three tiny signs of the cross on forehead, lips and chest – praying “May Christ’s Words be in my mind, on my lips and in my heart.”

Difference between a cross and a crucifix?

The representation of the cross in nature; the commonality of crosses seen in disasters (ex: 9/11)

What is a saraph?  Often referred to as a “fiery serpent”, “fiery flying serpent” (Is 30:6)

STORY

A long time ago, in a world far away, lived a race of beings called the Woodkies.  The Woodkies lived in a forest and were somewhat like you and I, except that each Woodkie, shortly after birth, was given a tree to tend and nurture and to carry wherever they went.  As the Woodkies grew, so did their trees, until the Woodkies had to carry them strapped to their backs everywhere they went.  They had carried their trees for so long, most had forgotten why they did so – they were told that their tree would protect them – someday.

But not everyone was happy with their tree.  Some thought their tree was particularly ugly; some trees were heavier than others; some were just bigger and bulkier, clumsy to carry.  Some of the Woodkies complained that it wasn’t fair that they had to carry their particular tree.

They began to leave their trees at home.  Some would still try to take care of their trees, but others neglected them or just forgot about them altogether.

One day, there was a great fire in the forest that could not be contained, and it consumed everything in its path.  The Woodkies were in a panic and started to run away from the forest, but they came to a great chasm which separated the forest from a safer area.  There were no bridges across the chasm and so the Woodkies were trapped.

One older Woodkie who had a very large tree strapped to his back called out, “Follow me!” and he raced toward the great chasm.  Some followed; others ran in different directions and were trapped by the fire.  Those who had trees strapped to their backs found that they were protected from the flames (did I mention that the trees that the Woodkies had to carry were fireproof?) but those who had abandoned their trees were consumed by the fire.

Finally, they reached the great divide.  The elder Woodkie then lifted his tree high into the air and laid it across the chasm.  Other Woodkies that had trees did the same, and they created a bridge to safety.  The trees which they had carried for so long, were their saving grace.

What about you?  Are you tending your tree?