Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross (Year A) September 14, 2014 I. GOSPEL READING (John 3:13-17) Jesus said to Nicodemus: “ No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down fromheaven, 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. Points for Reflection The reading is the latter part of Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus, a Pharisee and “ ruler of the Jews.” Their meeting took place at night, probably due to Nicodemus’ fear of being seen talking withJesus in public. After startling Nicodemus with an explanation on the “new birth in the Spirit,” Jesus goes further to explain the necessity of the crucifixion and resurrection to bring forth this “new birth.” 1. Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert . . . Talking to Nicodemus, Jesus used the story in the First Reading (Num. 21:4-9) about the “ serpent in the desert” sent as punishment to the Israelites for constantly complaining against God, to the point of accusing Him of bringing them out of Egypt only to destroy them in the desert. Many were bitten and subsequently died. At first glance, this may seem to be too severe a penalty for their grumbling. But, we can understand how wicked this apparently harmless act was when we recall what happened in the Garden of Eden. There, God’s enemy appeared in the form of a serpent to deceive Adam and Eve to lose trust that God had their best interest at heart. This temptation to doubt in God’s goodness led to their act of disobedience, which had tragic consequences for them and the whole human family. Similarly, the accusations and complaints in the desert were a loss of trust. The Israelites were in a profound darkness and had already forgotten all that God had done to deliver them from their slavery in Egypt. Fortunately, they realized their sin in time and begged Moses to intercede. Thereby God instructed him to make a bronze serpent and mount it on a pole. Anyone bitten by a serpent had to look at the raised bronze serpent. Seeing the serpent was a reminder to them of the seriousness of their sin - it was a life and death matter. But, above all, looking at it was an act of faith, calling them out of darkness and into God’s marvelous light. What had been first feared as deadly punishment has now become a life-giving remedy. This was certainly a wonderful experience of conversion: the return to God from an interior experience of His love. 2. So must the Son of Man be lifted up . . . Our Lord now tells Nicodemus, “ so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life.” The lifting up of the Son of Man is now likened to the lifting up of the bronze serpent. Like the Israelites we, too, have been bitten by the deadly poison of our sin. We, too, acknowledge this and cry out to God for mercy. When we look at the Cross, an instrument of death, we are reminded of the gravity of our sin; itdeserves death. Now, God invites us to gaze upon the Cross with Jesus crucified, a man who looks exactly like us but without the poison of sin in him. Seeing him in faith brings us to a great mystery that heals us from death in sin to a life in grace. In the Cross, justice and mercy havemet. For, God sent His Son into the world not to condemn but to save us. We might think that looking at a helpless, beaten human being would be the last thing to save us from death, but a great transformation has occurred. The man on the Cross had been “ lifted up” out of death (Resurrection) and likewise been “ lifted up” to the right hand of God (Ascension). This transformation brings forth in us the new birth in the Spirit, our divine adoption. Jesus not only redeemed us, but also filled us with his own divine life and power so that we might share in his glory. Jesus also gave us the Holy Spirit that we may have power to be his witnesses and to never be ashamed of his Cross. 3. God so loved the world . . . Such is the Cross of Jesus, an embodiment of God’s unfailing mercy in spite of man’s sinfulness. The Psalm (Ps. 78: 1bc-2, 34-35, 36-37, 38) describes this paradox in the Cross. Even though “they flattered Him with their mouths and lied to Him with their tongues,” God, “being merciful, forgave their sin and destroyed them not.” The explanation for His repeated willingness to turn “back His anger and let none of His wrath be roused”? John could only say: “God so loved the world . . .” True love doesnt count the cost; it gives liberally. A true lover gives the best he has to offer andeverything he has for the beloved. God proved his love for us by giving us the best – Jesus, His only begotten Son. In the Second Reading (Phil. 2:6-11) St. Paul tells us how Jesus emptied himself and left heaven to become like one of us. He came to offer to God the perfect obedience that man never has norever could offer - the kind that costs everything. Because of it, however, “ God greatly exalted Himand bestowed on Him the Name that is above every name.” Someday, all creation will confess thatblessed Name. When that happens, however it happens, the glory of God will finally be fully revealed in the triumphant Cross of Jesus. II. OUR LADY’S MESSAGE: “THE BRIGHT CROSS” (Message 516) April 1, 1994 Good Friday Capoliveri, Livorno, Italy a. Draw near to the Throne of Grace to obtain mercy on this day of the redemption. Look, with loveand immense gratitude, upon Him whom today they have pierced. b. He is the Eternal Word of the Father who has become Man. He is the Son of God offered for yourransom. He is the true Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. c. He is my Son Jesus, born and brought up by me, assisted and accompanied, contemplated with thehappiness of a mother, in the rhythm of his human growth. d. He is my Son, comforted and encouraged by me in the face of every official rejection, followed byme and listened to in the desert of so much unbelief, consoled by the voices of the little ones, ofthe poor, the sick and the sinners. e. He is my Son, whom I meet today, as He carries the heavy weight of his gibbet on his wounded shoulders. Live with me the indescribable moment of this encounter. f. My motherly love is placed like a balm on each of his wounds. The immense pain of the Son falls upon the Heart of the Mother, pierced by his very suffering. And the Cross crushes Son andMother, now united in this one single offering. g. Stay with me, beloved sons, beneath the Cross, together with your brother John. h. There is such need for comfort. For Jesus, who is nailed to the gibbet, raised up from the earth andwho is living through the bloody hours of his agony. And for me, his Mother, intimately associated in his redemptive passion. i. There is such need for faith. Behold Jesus crushed like a worm. All the sins of the world weighupon his immolated body. His Heart is overwhelmed by human ingratitude and by such a profoundlack of faith. He saved others, and He cannot save Himself. Let Him come down from the Cross if He is the Son of God, and we will believe in Him (Mt 27:42) . With me, with John, with the devout and faithful women, with the penitent centurion, you too must say: Truly this is the Son of God! (Mt 27:54) j. There is such need for love. On Golgotha, love appears to be defeated. There is only hatred, bitterness, wickedness and inhuman savagery. Darkness descends and obscures the world. Love is all gathered together in Christ Crucified, who prays, pardons, bows to the Will of the Father and docilely abandons Himself to Him. Love descends from Him upon the Mother, called to open her Heart to a new and spiritual motherhood, and upon John, who represents all of you, in receiving this supreme gift of the divine Heart of the Son. k. There is such need for hope. Now the lifeless body of Jesus, from the Cross, is placed in my motherly arms. I cover it with kisses and tears and, with the help of the faithful women, I wrap it in purest linen, and we place it in his new sepulchre. And a large stone closes it, but the door of hope opens, the hope that Jesus cannot remain in death, because He is the Son of God: the Son of God who will rise because He had foretold this many times; the Son of God who will meet his disciples again in the joyful and fertile land of Galilee. l. In the sorrow of this Good Friday, your heavenly Mother asks you to open your hearts to hope. The bloodied Cross, which you contemplate today in tears, will be the cause of your greatest happiness, because it will be transformed into a great bright cross. m. The bright cross, which will extend from east to west and will appear in the heavens, will be the sign of the return of Jesus in glory. n. The bright cross will be transformed from a gibbet to a throne of his triumph, because Jesus will come upon it to establish his glorious reign in the world. o. The bright cross, which will appear in the heavens at the end of the purification and the great tribulation, will be the door which opens the long and dark sepulchre in which humanity is lying, to lead it into the new reign of life which Jesus will bring with his glorious return. Points for Reflection 1. Draw near to the Throne of Grace. (516 a) The cross is a great paradox. Here, Jesus, the “Eternal Word,” the “Son of God” who becameman, was offered as ransom. Our Lady invites us to gaze on him whom they have pierced. ” He is the true Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” 2. Stay with me beneath the cross. (516 g) As mother, Our Lady is the one most affected by her son’s suffering. She invites us to live with her this indescribable moment of her pain. But, above all, let us learn from her and imitate her unshakeable faith. 3. The bloodied cross will be the cause of the greatest happiness. (516 l, n) The “ bloodied cross” will be transformed into a “ great bright cross.” It will be the sign of Jesusglorious return to establish his reign that will last throughout eternity. Our Lady promises us that our consecration to her Immaculate Heart gives us greater capacity to love and to suffer (22 h) so that like her Son, we may also be able to give God the perfect obedience that costs everything. Let us therefore live daily our consecration, entering more and more into the depths of her Heart, and allow ourselves to be led by her along the way of the Cross until we all reach the summit of Calvary (181 g) , where together with her and her Son we can enter into the new reign of life with the Lord. God bless you all! Yours in the Immaculate Heart, Fr. Omer
Posted on: Fri, 12 Sep 2014 11:58:41 +0000
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