You’re full of faith. You worship and serve as you wait. But as time continues to pass, your prayers remain unanswered, you begin to wither. Slowly, you lose hope. You grow angry and weary. Eventually, you walk away.

Oh you, of little faith. Aren’t we all guilty of this? Aren’t we all prone to throwing spiritual tantrums when we do not get our way? We are not much different from our ancestors. We, too, grumble and speak against God when we do not get what we want. Oh we, of little faith.

Even in the long wait, between the promise and fulfillment, in the silence and the darkest of nights—God is there with you. He is in the wait as much as He is in the glorious fulfillment. He has done many miracles in our lives before. He will do it again, and again.

Let’s hold on to that. God is constant. God is true. God will come through for you.

Karren Renz P. Seña (karren.sena@gmail.com)

reflect

“When the time is right, I, the Lord, will make it happen.” (Isaiah 60:22)

Lord God, may I never forget that You are with me even as I wait. May I always be reminded that You are constant and that You will always fulfill what You have promised. Amen.

Saint Notburga, pray for us.

First Reading | Numbers 21:4-9

The image of a bronze serpent on a pole foreshadowed the true cross of Christ that will become the source of our healing from the bites of the dragon, Satan, and his kingdom. As the Israelites only had to look at the bronze serpent on the pole to be healed, so we only need to look with faith at the Crucified Christ to be healed of our sins. 

⁴ With their patience worn out by the journey, ⁵ the people complained against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in this desert, where there is no food or water? We are disgusted with this wretched food!” ⁶ In punishment the Lord sent among the people saraph serpents, which bit the people so that many of them died. ⁷ Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned in complaining against the Lord and you. Pray the Lord to take the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people, ⁸ and the Lord said to Moses, “Make a saraph and mount it on a pole, and if any who has been bitten looks at it, he will live.” ⁹ Moses accordingly made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole, and whenever anyone who had been bitten by a serpent looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.

Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 78:1-2, 34-35, 36-37, 38

R: Do not forget the works of the Lord!

¹ Hearken, my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth. ² I will open my mouth in a parable, I will utter mysteries from of old. (R) ³⁴ While he slew them they sought him and inquired after God again, ³⁵ remembering that God was their rock and the Most High God, their redeemer. (R) ³⁶ But they flattered him with their mouths and lied to him with their tongues, ³⁷ though their hearts were not steadfast toward him, nor were they faithful to his covenant. (R) ³⁸ Yet he, being merciful, forgave their sin and destroyed them not; often he turned back his anger and let none of his wrath be roused. (R)

Second Reading | Philippians 2:6-11

Because of Jesus’ humility in subjecting Himself to death for our sake, God exalts Him above every other name in heaven and on earth. We can be confident in the power of the Name and the Blood of Jesus to free us from all evil. Satan and all the powers of hell tremble at the Name of Jesus and must submit to Him. 

⁶ Brothers and sisters: Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. ⁷ Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, ⁸ he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. ⁹ Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Gospel | John 3:13-17 

Jesus reveals to Nicodemus, a member of the Sanhedrin, that he cannot enter into the reign of God unless he is born again. It is to the Son who has come down from heaven that the Father has entrusted His plan of salvation, and only through faith in Him can we be saved. In Jesus, God the Father reveals His heart of mercy and love.

Gospel Acclamation

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, because by your Cross you have redeemed the world.

¹³ Jesus said to Nicodemus: “No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man. ¹⁴ And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” ¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.

Reflect:

When did you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior? 

How have you experienced the Father’s love and mercy through Him?

Read the Bible in one year! Read JEREMIAH 50 - 52 today.

Cross My Heart?

Our celebration today of the Exaltation of the Cross started after the miraculous discovery of the True Cross by Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine, on 14th of September 326 during her pilgrimage to Jerusalem, where she directed the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to be built to house the True Cross. When the Persians conquered the Holy Land in 627, they took a part of the True Cross that prompted Emperor Heraclius I of Constantinople to launch a campaign to recover it. He succeeded in his efforts and brought back the Holy Cross to Jerusalem in 641, amid great celebrations, by carrying it on his shoulders.Upon reaching the gate leading to the church at Calvary, the emperor suddenly could not move forward. They were astonished and could not understand what happened until Patriarch Zachary of Jerusalem told him to take off his imperial clothing and put on instead a poor man’s clothing that resembled “the poor and humiliated condition of Jesus carrying His cross.” It was only then that the emperor was able to carry the cross to the church, where many miracles happened on the same day.

It is the same thing being asked of us today as we celebrate the Exaltation of the Cross. It is so easy to display the cross without truly having it “etched” and housed inside our hearts through the process of kenosis or self-emptying.

To “cross our heart” means to choose love and mercy over self-centeredness and self-righteousness; fairness and justice over greed and possession; bearing all pains and perseverance over complaining and whining like the Israelites in 

the wilderness (First Reading); and thinking more of others than of one’s self. 

The cross is a call to have more of God and more of life and of fulfillment by participating in Christ’s sufferings.

Fr. Nick Lalog

reflection question

Where do you place your cross—inside your heart or outside, like on your skin, in your car, home, or office?

Lord Jesus, help me to always cross to the other side of the road in order to love and be kind to others so I may find life in You. Amen.

Today, I pray for: ___________________________________