CROSS OF OUR LIFE AND OF OUR SALVATION.

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September 14, 2022.
Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.

Readings: Nm 21:4b-9 or Phil 2:6-11; Ps 78:1bc-2, 34-35, 36-37, 38; Jn 3:13-17.

“God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name…” Phil 2:9
A Swahili proverb says: “After hardship comes relief.” And a Filipino proverb adds: “There's no glory without sacrifice.”
The wood of the Cross of Christ, for us Christians, is symbol of life. It is the tree of salvation. Through it, and on it, the Savior of the world paid the ransom of sin and set free mankind from slavery. From the very day Jesus Christ died on the Cross, the of old instrument of capital and supreme punishment has turned into a symbol of glory. For, through the tree of the Cross flows a source of life. The blood of the Son of God pour out from it to give life to a dying humanity.
“The cross is the unique sacrifice of Christ, the "one mediator between God and men". But because in his incarnate divine person he has in some way united himself to every man, "the possibility of being made partners, in a way known to God, in the paschal mystery" is offered to all men. He calls his disciples to "take up [their] cross and follow [him]", for "Christ also suffered for [us], leaving [us] an example so that [we] should follow in his steps." In fact Jesus desires to associate with his redeeming sacrifice those who were to be its first beneficiaries.456 This is achieved supremely in the case of his mother, who was associated more intimately than any other person in the mystery of his redemptive suffering. “Apart from the cross there is no other ladder by which we may get to heaven”.” CCC 618
Celebrating the feast of the Glorification of the Cross, the readings concord to sing life and salvation. In the first reading, we hear about Moses raising a Bronze Serpent in the desert to save the rebellious house of Israel from their sin against the Lord. When in their journey toward the Promised Land, the people lost patience, they murmured against God and Moses. "Why did you bring us out of Egypt to die in this wilderness? For there is neither bread nor water here; we are sick of this unsatisfying food." So, in his wrath, "God sent fiery serpents among the people; their bite brought death to many in Israel." The people, then, went to Moses who intercedes and the Lord ordered him to "Make a fiery serpent and put it on a standard. If anyone is bitten and looks at it, he shall live." The fiery serpent became a source of life. This was a prefiguration of what Jesus will do once mounted on the Cross. The Lord himself, in a prophetic way foretells it to Nicodemus: "the Son of Man must be lifted up as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him."
In Jesus lifted up on the Cross, salvation is brought to us. A ladder is set between heaven and earth. Sinners can now return to God and live. These are marvelous deeds of the Lord we should not forget. We are exhorted today to adore, and we bless the Lord; because by his cross he has redeemed the world.
In the Holy Cross of Jesus we should always celebrate a mystery of life, the greatest mystery of God's love. This becomes also a calling for you and me today to have a different approach of the Cross and of our trials and tribulations. From suffering life can spring. Not all the hardships we go through are aimed to doom or destroy us. Some prepare us for life and glory.



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