THE CROSS

Today is the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, the universal symbol of the Christian faith. What used to be a barbaric instrument of torture during the Roman Empire now represents Christ’s victory over death. Other Christian sects continue to criticize Catholics for worshiping symbols and images. We don’t; we simply venerate them as divine instruments used by God.

Read the verse above in John 3:14. Why would God instruct Moses to create a bronze serpent—an image—to use as an instrument of healing for Israelites bitten by snakes? Why didn’t God just instruct Moses to tell His people to pray directly to Him for healing?

The bigger message, however, is that as Moses lifted up the bronze serpent on a pole, so was Jesus, our Savior, lifted up on the cross so that whoever looks up to Him—that is, believes in Him, receives Him, and follows Him—shall be healed and be saved.

Just remember: We exalt the Holy Cross because of Jesus who was crucified on it to save us. Alvin Barcelona (apb_ayo@yahoo.com)

Reflect:

When you look at the cross, what do you see? Who do you see? What does the cross mean to you?

Dear Jesus, grant me the grace to look at the cross and see Your unfathomable mercy and love for me. Amen.

Saint Notburga, pray for us..

Moses played a crucial role in the healing of the people. He prayed to God and interceded for them. We, too, are called to be intercessors, praying for the salvation, as well as the mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual healing of others. Is there someone whose healing you need to pray for today?

⁴With 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 anyone who has been bitten looks at it, they 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

Jesus always thought of other people before Himself and put their needs before His own. His main concern in life is obedience to the Father. His obedience counters the disobedience of every sin. His selflessness took Him to the cross. As Jesus hung on the cross, His thoughts were still not for His own comfort, but for those around Him and for the Father. He is truly the Lord of love on Calvary.

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

On this most wonderful feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, we celebrate God’s sacrificial love: He gave His Son to save us. Jesus died on the cross so we might live forever. He died so we could be in a relationship with God. Nothing can separate us from His love, thanks to Jesus. Sin is not a failure of grace but our failure to appropriate the grace that God gives us to grow in holiness.

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 he 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.

Read the Bible in one year! Read PSALMS 106 - 110 today.

Today, we celebrate the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. Jesus recalls the desert experience of Moses and the Israelites he was leading to the Promised Land. Due to their hardships while in journey, many Israelites spoke against the Lord. They blamed Him for bringing them from slavery in Egypt to a gruelling and dangerous life in the desert. The Lord got angry at them and sent fiery serpents which killed many Israelites. The Lord relented when they asked for forgiveness. He instructed Moses to attach a symbolic serpent to the end of a pole and declared that whoever was bitten needed only to look at the serpent and he would be healed.

In the same way, thousands of years later, Jesus, the Son of Man, was raised (on the cross) and became the source of eternal life for those who believed. For Christians alone, the cross is a sign of inhumanity by man and of humanity of God, love, sacrifice, justice, and obedience. This feast may refer to the triumph of the Christian faith, symbolized by the cross. It is not the cross itself that is exalted but the saving action of Jesus through the cross. What once was a symbol of absurdity, scandal, pain, and death has become the central symbol of Christian faith. It becomes a symbol of life to every Christian. Jesus’ death on the cross put an end to death and let eternal life enter. Salvation becomes the greatest irony in human history—in which the place of death has become a source of new life.

Today’s feast is a reminder that we have our own crosses to carry and die on. A true follower of Jesus knows his fate, his mission, and what that mission requires. Our crosses have different sizes, in the same way that our life challenges

have different magnitudes. Nevertheless, we accept our crosses and endure them in faith. We know that, like Jesus, our cross will not be our end but the beginning of new life. Our cross reminds us that life is not a bed of roses. Nevertheless, it can lead us to life eternal if lived according to the will of God as exemplified by Jesus Himself. Fr. Benny Tuazon

Reflection Questions:

What are your crosses in life? How are you living with those crosses? Do they inspire you to be more faithful to Jesus crucified?

We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You. For by Your holy cross, You have redeemed the world. Amen.

Today, I pray for: ________________________________________