THE GOSPEL The Festival of the Exaltation of the Cross The Gospel of John; the third Chapter, verses 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. HOW ODD...that this Gospel greet us tomorrow at Mass. September 14th, 2002 was actually the day I was ordained...the following day, a Sunday that year was the very first Mass celebrated as a parish community. It is that first Mass 12 years ago, that we remember and celebrate this weekend as the Anniversary of the Founding of Our Parish Community. How odd that this selection would include the most commonly quoted verse from the Christian Testament, John 3:16...a verse used with Bouncer-esque passion...you are in, or you are out. How odd that Jesus would be talking to his elder, Nicodemus about being born again...how odd that we have found in this same scripture part of our own mantra and as close to a parish mission statement as we have ever come...For God so loved the world... For God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world... Saved through him. Not words rattled off, not a confession to bind some in and keep some out. Not a teaching authority that would seek to destroy the very essence of the teaching/learning relationship...but an owning of the true Catholic ministry ethos that added this line to every single doctrine, teaching and moral question: According to pastoral need. How odd that this anniversary fall on an odd festival indeed...the exaltation of the Cross...the bearing up of that which would kill us and knowing it, in the end as that which saved us. How odd our God who saves us through the very details of our lives that we might journey alongside one another and help do the same. We should glory in the Cross of our Lord, Jesus Christ. For he is our salvation, our hope and resurrection. In him we are saved and set free!
Posted on: Sat, 13 Sep 2014 10:28:59 +0000