We all know the account of her discovering a mound with sweet basil growing among the weeds and stones of Golgotha, digging and uncovering several old crosses. Subsequently, to determine the True Life-giving Cross from the crosses of the thieves she had a corpse placed on the wood. The dead person was brought back to life when he was placed on the True Cross. The recounting of this tale caused me to ponder a very significant point. It occurred to me that at one time or another in our life’s journey we all lose faith. Perhaps, it is a great disappointment, or the death of someone we love, an illness, depression or a myriad of other reasons. We just lose it. If we are fortunate to find our way again, either by struggle, the help of a friend, time’s healing passage or by the guidance of a spiritual guide, then we are faced with an ultimate decision. Now that I found it what do I do with it? St. Eleni can be a guide to our future action. What did she do? What she didn’t do was sit back on her laurels and just take the “applause” of the assembled throngs, the people and her son. She did what we all should do! She put her faith into action. She built churches all over the Holy Lands. What can we do when we discover or rediscover our faith? When we join Christ and His Body as a result of our embracing the faith or returning to the fold, our ultimate choice is what to do now. The example of St. Eleni is – do something with your faith. Let it light a fire in our heart and inspire us to put our faith to work. Feed the hungry, teach the uninformed, visit the sick, help the helpless, comfort the downhearted, be there for someone, reach out and encourage the timid. The bottom-line is to become Christ to someone and make your faith a living faith!
The True Cross