A Catholic Clergy Perspective: THE EXALTATION OF THE HOLY CROSS (C): “MAY I NEVER BOAST OF ANYTHING BUT THE CROSS OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST”! by Deacon Jim Merle

Friday, September 12, 2025

THE EXALTATION OF THE HOLY CROSS (C): “MAY I NEVER BOAST OF ANYTHING BUT THE CROSS OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST”! by Deacon Jim Merle

“In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

We either say these words aloud or mouth them silently as we make the Sign of the Cross when we enter a church or at the beginning and end of a prayer. It is our way of recognizing that we are one in faith with the Holy Trinity. The physical gesture with our right hand to our head, to our heart, to our left shoulder and then our right shoulder as a Roman Catholic Christian is the reminder that we acknowledge what Jesus, the Son of God the Father, did to cement this relationship by suffering crucifixion so we can be forgiven of our sins and be allowed to enter into the everlasting salvific joy, peace and love of heaven.

And, yet there is a feeling of discomfort by we who espouse this belief when we are evaluated by God as to the depth of what it means to be “one with God.” There is an expectation at times that the difficulties we suffer are more than anyone can withstand and, therefore, it is unfair for God to expect that we can ever love Him enough for us to overcome our sinfulness and be granted an everlasting life of eternal happiness. If being human is to err, then God needs to be more tolerant since He is the one who created us out of His love with Original Sin and a sin nature. We realize Jesus was overwhelmed at times, but He is God and man. We are just human!

Baptism removes our Original Sin. Faith and trust are the tools God has given us along with our free will to fight off the urge to sin. God has not abandoned us in our faith journey so that we are so overcome we cannot fight back and win over our desire to sin. Relationship is a two-way street in that we reciprocate with goodness when we receive the same and remember that it is out of God’s love for us that we need to remember to return love back to Him and all that He has created, even our enemies. Jesus accepted His crucifixion knowing that without suffering this humiliation we could never begin to understand the depth of God’s love for us. God’s choice was to humble Himself among His own creation to help us to understand that we have the ability and power to overcome our own shortcomings and Satan’s power to lead us astray. Jesus’ crucifixion is proof that God goes to extraneous limits to illustrate for us the depth of His love.

St. Paul in his readings, especially in his letters to the Galatians and the Philippians explains in detail how important it is to understand the depth of God’s love for us. In our second reading from The Epistle of Paul to the Philippians today from Chapter 2, Verses 6 through 8, he writes: “Though He (Jesus) was in the form of God, He did not deem equality with God something to be grasped at. Rather, He emptied Himself and took the form of a slave, being born in the likeness of men. He was known to be of human estate.” In Chapter 6, Verse 14, of his Epistle to the Galatians he writes: “May I never boast of anything but the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ! Through it, the world has been crucified to me and I to the world.”

The reading from Philippians reflects the self-effacement of Christ and gives us the model of Christian service we need to practice daily. In other words, He accomplished all of this as a human without using His Godly power. He committed Himself knowing that what He would suffer physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually for the betterment of our salvation. That is the depth of God’s love. He is like us in every way possible but sin so that we can realize there is no difference in what we suffer; only the specifics are different.

In St. John’s Gospel today, Chapter 3, Verse17, we see the purpose of Jesus’ visit, journey and death as told to Nicodemus, a Pharisee and member of the Jewish Sanhedrin. “God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.” Jesus’ coming provokes judgment; His purpose is to save, but some condemn themselves by turning from the Light of Jesus. Let us accept that God, in His infinite forgiveness and mercy, always comes from a place of love for us. He proved by his death on the Cross, a symbol for us to remember, honor and commit to in our lives, that we indeed are His people for whom He will always be there in this life and the next.

Reading 1:     Numbers 21:4b – 9
Psalm:            78:1b – 2
Reading 2:     Philippians 2:6 – 11
Gospel:          John 3:13 - 17

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Bishop Kevin W. Vann, JCD, DD, D MIN

He was ordained on May 30, 1981, and was assigned to graduate studies in canon law at the Angelicum in Rome, with residence at the graduate house of the North American College, the Casa Santa Maria dell’ Umilta. Pope Leo XIV, when a priest, also attended these classes at the same time. Upon returning to the Diocese of Springfield, Illinois, Father Vann participated in the work of the Diocesan Tribunal and the Tribunal of Second Instance in Chicago. He served as pastor of parishes ranging in size from 35 to 1,300 families, two which had large schools. He taught canon law at Kenrick Seminary. Before he was named bishop, he was pastor of Blessed Sacrament Parish in Springfield, Vicar for Priests and the Diocesan contact for Hispanic Ministry. Bishop Vann was ordained and installed as the third bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Forth Worth, Texas, on July 13, 2005, at Texas Christian University’s Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. In Texas, he collaborated closely with other bishops through the Texas Catholic Conference and Region X, which includes dioceses of States of Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas. He is the former Texas Bishops’ Liaison to the Texas Mission Council and Texas Catholic hospitals. And, through the U.S. Conference of Bishops, Bishop Vann was a leader in the Texas Conference of Bishops, providing leadership for various initiatives at the national level, including service on ad hoc committee which assisted the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) to guide the incorporation of Anglican groups into the Catholic Church of the United States. On September 21, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI announced Bishop Vann’s appointment as the fourth bishop of Orange, the 11th largest diocese in the country and the second-largest west of the Mississippi with 1.3 million multicultural Catholics. He continues to lead the historic effort to transform the former Crystal Cathedral from a world-renowned center of Protestant worship into the West Coast’s most visible center of Catholicism.

Father Glenn Baaten

A priest of the ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, a community with the Catholic Church made up of former Anglicans and Episcopalians. He Currently serves as Parish Administrator of St. John Henry Newman Catholic Church in Irvine and as Chaplain of Santiago Retreat Center in Silverado. His ministry within the Diocese of Orange, California, is a collaborative appointment by Bishop Steven Lopes and Bishop Kevin Vann. Fr. Glenn was ordained to the Catholic priesthood on June 24, 2016, the Feast of St. John the Baptist. His journey to the Catholic Church followed years of faithful ministry in Protestant communities. He was ordained a Presbyterian pastor in 1998 and served a PCUSA parish in Cincinnati, Ohio. After returning to California in 2010, he discerned a call to Anglican ministry and was ordained in the Church of England tradition in 2013. He relinquished his Anglican holy orders and, after catechesis, was received into the Church on Christmas eve of that year. Fr. Glenn has been married to Cathy for 42 years. They are the blessed parents of two adult children and grandparents of three. His ministry is marked by a strong commitment to evangelization, Christian unity and sacred beauty of the liturgy. As a follower of Christ these many past decades – most especially as a priest – Fr. Glenn is committed to sharing the grace and love of Jesus to all and living the depth of that faith in the fulness of the Catholic Church.

Deacon Jim Merle

Deacon Jim was ordained 20 years ago on April 30, 2005, and lives in Southern California where he has served the Catholic Church on parish, diocesan and national levels. He periodically writes Pastoral Letters for church bulletins, as well as articles for the Diaconate community’s “Bowl & Towel” and the diocesan newspaper in addition to “A Catholic Deacon’s Perspective,” recently renamed “A Catholic Clergy’s Perspective” with the addition of Bishop Kevin W. Vann and Fr. Glenn Baaten as periodic writers. On the parish level he has served at three parishes involved in helping with Sacramental training, Faith Formation and annulments. His diocesan involvements include a six-year term on the Diaconate Personnel Board, a founding committee member of the God’s Servants Committee (an educational component of quarterly meetings for active deacons), as a Master of Ceremonies at Confirmations, ordinations, installations and other ceremonies, an Advanced Master Catechist Certification to teach theological and certification classes and recently was selected to head up a Deanery Council of Deacons and their wives to support their ordination faculties and activities in each of the seven deaneries. On a local and national level, he coordinated the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) diocesan board for 14 years. CCHD is the domestic social justice arm of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) which distribute parishioner’s donations for non-profit organizations to empower the impoverished, marginalized and disenfranchised who have social justice needs. In his early career he was a writer/reporter for a well-known Chicago newspaper, as well as owning a public relations/advertising firm. He is now semi-retired and works parttime in two professional practices he owns. On a personal note, he is married 57 years, helped rear four children with his wife, a grandfather to 10 grandchildren and a great grandfather to six great grandchildren.

BLOG INTRODUCTION

Scripture is like the eyes into God’s soul. Whether from the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) or the New Testament, we can garner, as best we can, who God is (what He feels and how He thinks in human terms). The original and current purpose of this blog, which began in 2019, is to take a three-year cycle of A, B and C Gospels and readings from each Sunday and provide a perspective as it pertains to our current lives as seen through the eyes of a Catholic clergy who serve Catholics in words and deeds per their ordination. Since completing the three-year cycles, it has been expanded to investigate the areas of Commentaries, Scripture and Theology. It is because of that the blog will now have writings from Bishop Kevin Vann, Ordinary of the Diocese of Orange, California, Father Glenn Baaten, a former Anglican priest, ordained into the Roman Catholic Church as a priest, and Deacon Jim Merle, who recently celebrated his 20th year ordination and started this blog. Bishop Vann and Father Glenn will author articles on a periodic basis based upon the time they have to devote to the blog. Deacon Jim will continue to offer weekly articles, still based on the three-year cycle along with various current events that challenge us to balance our humanity with our spiritual lives. The hope is that you, our subscribers, will see this as something of value to help you grow closer to the Lord.