Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez reminded people of  the celebration of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross earlier this month.

"Our responsibility as Christians is to follow Jesus on his way of the Cross,” he tweeted Sept. 12. “To share the message of the Cross with others.” 

Gomez called to mind the suffering that comes with living a Christian life. Besides suffering alongside Christ as he carried the cross, Christians are called to spread awareness of the cross and its significance, Gomez said.

The Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross is celebrated every Sept. 14. It is also called Universal Exaltation of the Holy and Life-Giving Cross or Holy Cross Day according to Britannica. 

The feast began in the eastern Church but became part of the Roman Catholic tradition in the 7th century. The celebration recalls Christ's victory over death but also is a remembrance of the suffering that came with it in Christ's passion and death, Britannica adds. The feast also commemorates the finding of the true cross that Christ was crucified on by St. Helen, the mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine. 

When St. Helen found the true cross, it became a relic of veneration and her son, Constantine authorized the building of the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher where it was found, according to Franciscan Media. The symbol of Christ's crucifixion, the cross has become an object of faith since then. For Christians, following the way of the cross is the path to salvation and the source of holiness.