Exaltation of the Holy Cross and Season of Creation in South Africa

Yesterday we celebrated our Sunday Mass in Brakpan, not in our church, but outside on our parish property, near to where some wonderful trees are to be found. One small bush was in full bloom. Flowers are opening up. It is springtime, the time of new growth and new life in nature. In our Mass we celebrated the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, and but we also paid attention to the theme which is running through our liturgy these Sundays – that is the celebration of the Season of Creation.

The altar was placed on the veranda of the house where our assistant priest Fr Vicar Emaze stays. Our parishioners sat around in chairs. The choir gave us a good lead in the singing. Our invited speaker today was Toni Rowland, a lady who runs an organization called Marfam which looks at ways to support families and help them to live the Christian life in the midst of so many present day challenges. Toni also reflects much on the theme of environment and how to enjoy creation and how to preserve it at a time when the world is destroying the very gift of creation which God has given us.

During her talk to us, Toni quoted the famous poem by the Irish poet, Joseph Mary Plunkett which begins: I see his blood upon the Rose. Plunkett who was executed for his part in the rebellion in Dublin in 1916 against British rule, in this poem tells us how he sees the death and resurrection of Jesus in different elements of creation. Toni Rowland’s input to us today made a close link between creation which God has given us, and the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. It left us even more aware of how precious this created world is and how deserving it is of our efforts to preserve it and help it to flourish.

Also in our celebration, our catechists had prepared young people to come and read out to us different statements and prayers about the wonderful gift that creation is – e.g. the value of the tree which creates oxygen and renews the air that we breathe around us.

And at the end of Mass some trees were blessed and these were planted by a men’s group in our parish, called the Men’s Forum. It was a day that was different. It was special. It will encourage us to appreciate the gift of Creation which God has given us to help to flourish and assist us to live our lives well.

Fr Kieran Birmingham

Fr Vicar Emaze