I - Num. 21: 4-9
II - Jn. 3: 13-17
EXALTATION OF THE HOLY CROSS (Feast)
The Israelites sinned by speaking against the Lord and against Moses His servant; and so God sent poisonous serpents to punish them. Many of the Israelites died bitten by the serpents. Moses, prayed and pleaded for the people and hence the sign of punishment and death - the serpent, was turned to sign of forgiveness and life. Everyone bitten by the serpent looked upon the serpent set on a pole and was saved. Similarly, to save the mankind from sin and death, God sent His only son in form of a human being to save the mankind. The fall of humanity with the sin of Adam was rectified and restored by the death of the New Adam - Jesus Christ on the cross. Today the Church celebrates the feast of the Holy Cross. Cross was the sign of punishment, defeat, death and shame but Jesus with his death on the cross turned the cross into a sign of redemption, victory, life and glory. By one man, Adam, death entered into the world and the death of one man, Jesus, the New Adam, the entire world is saved and restored.
Jesus out of his great love for us, carried the cross cheerfully though it costed him much: humiliation, condemnation, accusations, mockery and jeering from the elite and the learned of the Law and the Scripture. But Jesus endured it to free us from all enslavement. Let us take some time today to thank the lord for his benevolent love towards us as we look up to the Cross and in the silence of our heart keep repeating: “Lord Jesus thank you for your love and sacrifice on the cross”.
