What a wonderful celebration we shared on Sunday with the Annual BBQ—with over 1,000 people in attendance! My heartfelt thanks go first to Michelle Duchesne and the entire committee for their creativity, organization, and tireless dedication. A special word of appreciation to Victor and Baldy, our amazing maintenance team, whose behind-the-scenes work kept everything running smoothly and the grounds looking beautiful. Your long hours and cheerful spirit made the day effortless for everyone else.
This joyful gathering was truly a team effort. From set-up to clean-up, countless volunteers, school parents, students, parishioners, and staff members pitched in. I am deeply grateful to every single person who lent a hand, offered a smile, or welcomed a newcomer. Thank you all for making this barbecue not just an event, but a vibrant celebration of our parish family and God’s abundant goodness. If you are interested in being involved next year, please email Michelle and Deanne at plg@stsimon.org
This Sunday’s Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross is a divine paradox or a holy puzzle: Exaltation and Cross. How can we speak of lifting high something that was once a symbol of death and shame? The answer is found in the mystery of God’s love. Our Lord did not remain distant from our pain. In Jesus Christ, God entered fully into our human condition, embracing every limitation—even death on a cross—so that nothing in our suffering would remain untouched by divine love. God’s answer to suffering, violence and hatred was to move closer to us and suffer with us and show us the way.
Crucifixion was Rome’s brutal public warning: rebels and criminals were stripped naked and nailed up to terrify the crowds. Yet Jesus accepted this humiliation to reveal the depth of His love for the Father and for us. As St. Paul sings in Philippians, He “emptied himself” and took the form of a servant. The Cross is not defeat; it is the very place where God’s glory is unveiled, and death itself is conquered.
Each of us is invited to carry our own crosses—large or small—with the same fidelity. We are called to love even when love is not returned, to forgive when forgiveness seems impossible. This week’s tragic shooting in Denver that claimed the life of students and the murder of a public figure, Charlie Kirk, in Utah is a stark reminder of how far violence can take us when anger goes unchecked. No political disagreement, no harsh word, ever justifies bloodshed. As a nation, as a Church and as a world of nations, we must reject violence in every form and cling to Christ’s way of love.
From the Cross, Jesus prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” He chose forgiveness over vengeance. In a culture often driven by outrage, where words are spun to cause hurt and shame, divisions are fomented intentionally to distract from real issues of separately needed unity, and violence is used to settle differences, the Cross invites us to a countercultural response of radical love—love that refuses to mirror hate.
This week we also paused to remember the events of September 11, 2001—twenty-four years ago, when our nation was pierced by the horrific attacks that took thousands of innocent lives. We hold in prayer the victims, their families, and the first responders who gave their lives and others continue to give so much, some still suffering the physical and emotional consequences of that day.
The violence of 9/11 was senseless and devastating. Yet it also revealed the courage and self-sacrifice of countless men and women who chose service and compassion over fear and hatred. As we recall that tragedy, we recognize how violence can become a contagion in our country and our world. Returning violence for violence only breeds more suffering. The only path that breaks this cycle is love. Love was Jesus’ answer on the cross and it must be our answer today.
That love begins close to home. We must become love applied—in our families, in our friendships, in our parish. Even in everyday disagreements, our response must always be love. We must watch what we write online on social media and what we say in our table conversations, as we witness to our faith. We must witness to the response to all hate, violence, death and evil with LOVE. As we continue to love our friends, we are also called to love our enemies and convince them by our witness—love is the only answer. Only then will the Cross truly be exalted in our lives. In the Cross we see that evil and death never have the last word. God’s love is everlasting; what God loves is everlasting.
As we celebrate the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, let us dare to live the divine paradox: to “lift high the Cross” not as a relic of pain, but as the radiant sign of God’s triumph. May we bear our own crosses with courage, forgive as we have been forgiven, and proclaim with our lives that Christ has conquered death by His death—and that love, not violence, is the only force that can truly heal the world.
God bless,
Fr. Brendan