OUR MISSION

As members of St. Francis Xavier Roman Catholic Church, we are a multicultural community guided by the Holy Spirit and the Catholic Church. Our family of faith leads a Christ-centered life to enrich our world through sacrament, worship, service, and hospitality.

Follow parish life and events at our St. Francis Xavier Facebook Page. 

Exultation of the Holy Cross

In the 2nd century, Emperor Hadrian (117–138), in order to discourage Christian worship in Jerusalem, covered over the site where Jesus had been crucified and buried. On the location of the Holy Sepulchre, he placed a statue of Jupiter; on the site of Jesus’ crucifixion, he erected a statue in honor of Venus. The Christians, however, continued to frequent those places, evoking there the death and resurrection of Jesus. Later, on September 13, 326, Saint Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine, guided by a resident of Jerusalem, discovered at the site of Calvary the wood of the cross on which Jesus had been crucified. After demolishing the pagan structures erected by Hadrian, a Christian basilica was built, dedicated on September 13, 335. On the following day, September 14, the cross that had been found there was exposed to the veneration of the faithful. This event is the origin of the so-called Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The cross of Jesus – which the liturgy of this day invites us to contemplate – is the supreme expression of the love of a God who came to meet us, accepted to share our humanity, chose to make himself the servant of men, and allowed himself to be killed so that selfishness and sin might be overcome. By giving his life on the cross, as a gift of love, Jesus showed us the way to attain fullness of life.

The first reading brings us a story from the time when the Israelites wandered through the desert. God sought to correct Israel’s tendency toward murmuring and ingratitude; but perceiving that the “remedy” might “kill the patient,” God devised a strategy of salvation. The bronze serpent lifted upon a pole, through which God healed His people, was a sign of God’s love and goodness; and, on the other hand, it was also a symbol of that saving power that centuries later would spring forth from the cross of Christ, the man lifted on high to give life to the whole world.

In the Gospel, Jesus, in conversation with a Pharisee named Nicodemus, reveals to him the meaning and significance of His presence among men: God so loved the world that He gave His Only Begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but have eternal life. The love of God will become particularly evident when, on the cross, Jesus gives His life for all. Those who look upon the Crucified and embrace the lesson of love that He offers will find life in abundance.

In the second reading, Paul presents to the believers of Philippi his interpretation of the incarnation of Christ. Jesus, the Son of God, emptied Himself of His divine dignity and came to meet men, clothed in our fragile nature. He chose the path of obedience to the Father and of service to humanity, even to the surrender of His life. The cross is the supreme expression of this path and this choice. Paul asks the Philippians – and the “disciples” of all times and places – to accept walking the same path that Jesus walked.

Upcoming Events