Holy Cross Day

So last Sunday was Holy Cross day. This is a major feast in the lectionary but to my mind it's a bit of an odd one!
Unlike Good Friday - when we remember the theological and spiritual significance of the cross - Holy Cross day is when we focus on the actual wood of the cross itself.

It's beginnings are in the supposed discovery of the true cross by Helena - mother of the Emperor Constantine - in 300 and something.

The one thing I do find helpful from all of this is that it's reminder that spirituality and discipleship etc. are about physical things. It's a helpful corrective for when we get too other-worldly and ethereal - which we are all prone to from time to time. Holy Cross day says that God's actions in the world have to do with very solid, physical things like wood and flesh and blood.

So we marked the day anyway in our community and spent some time talking about the cross.