Son Of Man Be Lifted UP Today, we celebrate the Exaltation of the Cross. A feast tat celebrates Life, not death. Jesus came down from heaven and was raised up, and in this down and up we find new Life. “Up” and “Down” are words that capture seeming contradictions. The space between up and down, heaven and earth, divinity and humanity is closed by the obedience, self-emptying and fidelity of the Son. This feast celebrates that on the cross Jesus overcomes these contradictions. We are drawn into the mystery of the cross as exaltation by our belief in the Son. Our believing bridges the space between God and us, between Life and death, between being saved or perishing. The cost- obedience, death. Yet eternal Life that is given is worth the cost! The question the gospel leaves with us is, How much do we believe? The mystery of the cross challenges us to enter into pain, suffering and death as the means to Life. This mystery doesn’t make it any easier to accept pain, suffering and death; what it gives is meaning and depth. Like Jesus, we don’t empty ourselves for the sake of pain and suffering, we accept these for the sake of new Life-in the suffering is the glory.