Clergy Notes — September 13, 2026

This week as we celebrate Holy Cross, you may notice that some of the prayers, music, and petitions remind you of the liturgy on Good Friday. And you would be right! As on Good Friday, at Holy Cross we (of course) focus on the cross, but rather than seeing it primarily as an instrument of death, we see it transformed into a symbol that reminds us of what Christ accomplishes on the cross, and what follows that dark hour of death: the harrowing of hell, the resurrection, and the life everlasting.

Some churches place flowers on the cross to symbolize this transformation. It can be a lovely way to show how all of creation naturally responds to the life-giving power of Christ. In this season of creation we might even want to take our imaginations further and notice other examples in creation where God births new life from seemingly dead or desolate situations or places. The nurse log in the forest is one such example: having finished their singular life cycle, these fallen trees become a wellspring of abundance for creatures and other plant life.

Are there places in our lives that might seem dead or desolate? Are there corners of our hearts, or souls, which we have shut off from the touch of the Divine and communion with others? Might God be inviting us to look at the cross anew and pray for new life to spring from those dead places, and rejuvenate us?

Mother Amanda

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