Today is the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. With this feast, we commemorate the love of God for His human creation. The cross upon which Christ died symbolizes for all true believers the whole of salvation history.

In a statement rich with profound meaning, Jesus tells Nicodemus that: "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son." He is saying that his coming into the world and everything about his life here on earth reveals the love of God for us.

It is a love that is not merited on our part. Yet God gives us His love freely and without reservation. It is a salvific love because God makes our salvation possible by loving us this way.

Jesus was God's plan of salvation for us, and that is by living among us as man. St. Paul says, "He humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross" The death of Christ on the cross was an essential part of the plan for our salvation and a reminder that suffering is part of our human condition.

God loves us all, including those who are suffering. And because God loves them, there is hope. Indeed, Jesus said, "And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself." (Jn. 12:32)