Martin Jumbam
The Universal Church invites us to celebrate Sunday, September 14, 2014 as the Feast of the Exaltation, or the Triumph, of the Cross. In the entrance antiphon we pray: “We should glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, for he is our salvation, our life and our resurrection; through him we are saved and made free. Amen.” The Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross honours the Holy Cross by which Christ redeemed the world. The public veneration of the Cross of Christ originated in the fourth century, according to early accounts, beginning with the miraculous discovery of the cross on September 14, 326, by Saint Helen, mother of King Constantine, while she was on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem -- the same day that two churches built at the site of Calvary by Constantine were dedicated. Christians have celebrated the Feast of the Exaltation on September 14 since the 4th century. In the Western Church, the feast came into prominence in the seventh century, apparently inspired by the recovery of a portion of the Cross, said to have been taken from Jerusalem by the Roman emperor Heraclius in 629. Through the Passion of our Lord the Cross became a throne of glory, an instrument of our salvation. By adoring the Cross, we adore Jesus Christ, God made Man, who suffered and died a humiliating death on the cross for our redemption from sin and death. The cross represents the One Sacrifice by which Jesus, obedient even unto death, accomplished for our salvation. The cross is a symbolic summary of the Passion, Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ. In the course of this Eucharist, let us pray for the grace to see the Cross, not as an instrument of humiliation, that it was meant to be, but as God’s instrument to lift up those of us who have fallen into sin.
First Reading: Numbers 21: 4-9.
With their patience worn out by the journey, 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!” In punishment the Lord sent among the people saraph serpents, which bit the people so that many of them died. 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, and the Lord said to Moses, “Make a saraph and mount it on a pole, and if any who have been bitten look at it, they will live.” 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.
Comment
The Book of Numbers, which gives an account of the census of the Israelite people, is the fourth of the first five books of the Bible; the first being Genesis, which deals with the origins of the world and the origins of the Israelite people, the second Exodus, which tells the story of the escape of the Israelites from Egypt, the wandering in the desert and the covenant on Mount Sinai; the third Leviticus, which gives lists of the laws of the priests of the tribe of Levi, and the fifth Deuteronomy, which contains a code of civil and religious law framed by the teaching of Moses and an account of the final preparations for entering the Promised Land. Collectively, these five books form a unit known either as the Pentateuch (from the Greek for five books), or as the Torah (the Hebrew word for Law).
In the passage selected for our meditation, the people of Israel are complaining against Moses for bringing them out of Egypt into a desert where they have nothing to eat or drink. They wish he had left them back in Egypt where they at least had what to eat and drink. By protesting against Moses, however, they are also protesting against God.
That is why, in anger, God sends fiery serpents among them; but relents as soon as he sees that the Israelites have recognized their error and have repented. He asks Moses to make a bronze image of the serpent and set it on a pole so that anyone bitten can just look at it and be healed.
The bronze serpent mentioned later in the Gospel typifies Christ raised on the cross. Those who look at him with faith are saved. As Saint John says in the Gospel message of this day, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that whosoever believes in him may have eternal life” (Jn 3: 14-15). When Christ is raised above all human things, he draws them towards himself; so his glorification is the means whereby all mankind obtain healing for ever more. When we lift our eyes toward the crucified Lord, says Saint John Paul II, we contemplate the sign of God’s infinite love for humanity.
Let us pray to God who never abandons those who call on him for his mercy. May he continue to bless and protect us this day and forever. We make this supplication through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Second Reading: Philippians 2: 6-11.
Brothers and sisters: Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Comment
Saint Paul’s letters to the Ephesians, to the Colossians, to the Philippians and to Philemon are usually referred to as the “Captivity Epistles”. This is because Paul is believed to have written them when he was in prison.
Today’s reading is from his letter to the Philippians. Philippi was quite an important commercial and historical city in Saint Paul’s time. It was in Macedonia and anyone traveling from Asia Minor to Greece would have stopped there. In the 4th century BC, Philip of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great, had built a fortified camp, which was called after him. It was later conquered by the Romans and in Paul’s days, the Romans were still there.
The church of Philippi was the first Paul founded in Europe during his second missionary journey around the year 50 or 51 AD. What is the overall message of Paul’s letter to the Philippians? In tender, familiar language, Saint Paul gives his readers news of the progress of the Gospel. From his prison, he encourages them to put his teachings into practice and to foster the growth of Christian virtues. The letter generally deals with important points of doctrine – the eternal destiny of man; the Christian’s attitude to earthly realities; the profound mystery of Christ and the example of his life on earth.
In the text selected for this Feast of the Triumph of the Cross, Saint Paul gives a very profound exposition of the nature of Christ, using the most sublime truths of faith to show the way Christian virtues should be practiced. This is one of the earliest New Testament texts to reveal the divinity of Christ. This passage clearly bears witness to the fact that Christians were proclaiming, even in those very early years, that Jesus, born in Bethlehem, crucified, died and buried, and risen from the dead, was truly both God and man.
Jesus Christ makes the cross the climax of his earthly life; through it he enters into his glory as Lord and Messiah. The crucifixion puts the whole universe on the way to salvation. Christ’s sacred humanity was glorified as a reward for his humiliation on the cross. Jesus Christ is seen here as the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy about the universal sovereignty of Yahweh: “To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear” (Is 45: 23).
Christ attains exaltation and glory after going through the humiliation of the cross. In this way he sets the example for us to follow. We can only attain the glory of heaven by going through difficulties and suffering. “We have to die to ourselves,” Saint Paul tells the Philippians, “to be born again to a new life. Christ Jesus obeyed in this way, even unto death on a cross” (Phil 2: 18).
We pray to our Lord to strengthen our faith and make us understand the value of suffering as a prelude to eternal life. Amen.
Gospel: John 3: 13-17
Jesus said to Nicodemus: “No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” 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. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.
Comment
We, Catholics, make the sign of the Cross on our forehead, lips and heart as an external sign of our profession of faith. One Father of the Church teaches that “The Cross is a shield against the devil as well as a trophy of victory. … The Cross is God’s instrument to lift up those who have fallen and to support those still on their feet fighting. .. It drives away all evils, annihilates sin and draws down for us abundant goods. This is indeed the seed of the Resurrection and the tree of eternal life” (St. John Damascene, De fide ortodoxa, IV,11).
The path of our salvation passes through the Cross. As our Lord explains to Nicodemus: “The Son of Man must be lifted up as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” The Cross is present in our lives in many ways; sometimes it is in sickness, poverty, pain or loneliness. Though it is difficult to bear at times, our acceptance of our own cross can become a source of purification. As our Lord himself tells us, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny himself and take up their cross and follow me” (Mt 16.24).
The cross, which the Romans used centuries before Christ as an instrument of humiliation, became with Christ an instrument of our salvation. As Saint Paul tells his converts of Corinth, “For Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are called, Jews and Greeks alike, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor 1:22-24). The unbelievers see the Cross as folly because Jesus does what many want to avoid, that is, suffer so that others might be free. He is willing to be rejected and to suffer for our sake.
The symbol of the Cross is present everywhere around us and reminds us of the infinite sacrifice that the Lord Jesus did for our redemption. We, Catholics, begin our prayer with the sign of the Cross. The sign of the Cross is found in Sacred Liturgy, in all Christian festivals, and in the rite of adoration. It is found in the dedication of Churches, in the schools, homes, hospitals, seminaries, convents, Religious Order, Crusades and even in cemeteries.
Today, as we celebrate the Holy Mass, let us look up to the Holy Cross as our symbol of faith and salvation. Let us always honour the work of Christ that was manifested through the Holy Cross, the true symbol of love, compassion and forgiveness. You cannot look at the Cross and bear a grudge against your brother or sister, for he who hangs on the cross came to instil love in all of us for each other. May he give us the strength to embrace the commandment of love he left us before going to the Father.
Let us pray: Lord Jesus Christ, by your Cross and Resurrection, you have destroyed death and brought life to those in the grave. May your blessed passion be the joy of the whole world and may the glory of your rising from the tomb ever be our song, O Saviour of the world, living and reigning with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, One God forever and ever. Amen.
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