In today’s Gospel reading, Christ tells us that, if we wish to follow him, we must deny ourselves and take up our crosses. Today, the Sunday of the Holy Cross, Fr. Micah emphasizes this denial of ourselves — doing that which we don’t want to do, and doing it out of love for the other.

Christ shows us what this love looks like in its perfection. He took up his cross, he tasted bitterness, he went down to hell itself — and he did it all out of love for those who did not love him in return. This is the love of the Cross, the love that we are told by the wise King Solomon is “stronger than death.”

Finally, Fr. Micah encourages us to regularly make the sign of the cross in humility. He relates this to a small child, before learning to speak, signing for help. The child, though he cannot express his needs, knows that his loving parent knows how to care for him. When we make the sign of the cross, we can express to Christ, “We do not know, but you know, and you love us.”