In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, amen.

My Lord and my God, I firmly believe that you are here, that you see me, that you hear me.

I adore you with profound reverence.

I ask your pardon for my sins and the grace to make this time of prayer fruitful, my

immaculate mother, St. Joseph, my father and Lord, my guardian angel intercede for me.

Today we celebrate the exaltation of the Holy Cross, which is a great opportunity for all of us, just right off the bat, to say,

you know, how do I exalt in the cross? How do I love the cross? It is a question that we have to face not just once a year or not just on a great feast day like today, but always.

As Christians, we know that as St. Paul says that our glory is in the cross, that our love of our vocation is in the cross,

that our daily life is in the cross, that the meaning of what we do and where we go,

and whatever we have to face in a given day,

has not just a relationship with the cross of Jesus,

but is intimately united to the cross of Jesus.

That's the goal and the truth of our faith as Christians. And so today we back up a bit and reflect. Reflection is so important for us as creatures created in the image and likeness of God,

and that means that we are contemplatives, called to be contemplatives in this life

and destined to be contemplatives forever in the next life,

eternally contemplating the love and mercy and greatness of God, the beauty of God, the unity of our life and of all creation in the love

of God. And so the contemplation that we are aiming for in heaven to be with God forever and to be

united with you, Jesus, forever in heaven, begins now.

It begins today, this day that you may be listening to this meditation.

Perhaps you've been to Mass this morning and celebrated the exaltation of the Holy Cross.

Maybe you have just sort of stumbled upon this recorded meditation and maybe it's some days after the

exaltation of the Holy Cross maybe it's just a complete seemingly a complete kind of

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