THE SON OF MAN LIFTED UP
"God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that he who
believes in him might not perish but have eternal life."… God wants us to
love.
Today we celebrate
the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. We hear in the first reading that people of
Israel were afflicted with serpents in the wilderness because of their sin. God
instructed Moses: "Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and
everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live." The bronze serpent
points to the cross of Christ which defeats sin and death and obtains
everlasting life for those who believe. The result of Jesus "being lifted
up on the cross" and His rising and exaltation to the Father's right hand
in heaven, is our "new birth in the Spirit" and adoption as sons and
daughters of God. God not only redeems us, but He fills us with his own divine
life and power that we might share in His glory.
All three readings
come together very well today. St. Paul speaks often about the cross in his
letters. He says that his only boast is in the cross of Jesus. Paul frequently
reminds us that there is no work we can do that earns us redemption. Rather,
through the cross, Jesus has accomplished the work of uniting Jews and
Gentiles. He preached that God has nailed our sins and their resulting guilt to
the cross; when Jesus died on the cross so did our guilt. Paul preached the
mystery that the very instrument that put Jesus to death was also the means of
our new life. What we could not do, God did. Paul would conclude that we have
reason to exalt because the power of sin and death are conquered through the
cross.
Jesus said in the
Gospel of John: "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that
he who believes in him might not perish but have eternal life." Jesus came
to this world to help us through life, teach us how to truly live. By becoming
human like us, He showed us it can be done. He wants to have a relationship
with us, to dwell with-in us. Paul also told us today that Jesus emptied
Himself, taking the form of a slave, human in likeness; humbling Himself, and
being obedient even to death for us.
One question I
asked myself during my reflection on the readings: What about denying
ourselves, losing our life, following the crucified one? How do these teachings
fit into the picture? Well, God wants us to love. Because that is God's purpose
for us, He builds it into our nature. We want to love. We feel terrible when we
don't love. Now anybody who had ever loved knows that it costs - but they still
want to do it. They want to give things to those they love, do things for them.
They help them bear their burdens. They stick with them through difficult
times. It hurts. That is the denying of self, the losing of life.
Sr. Marsha Sinetar
said in an article: If your love is broad and deep, so that, for example, you
want to change the system to help those who are being squashed by it, you might
get threatened, beat up, or killed. It happened to many like, Martin Luther
King, Mohandas Ganghi, and Jesus of Nazareth.
This is all for
love, relationships, and we are all called to this cross.
The cross of Jesus
gives us many things to reflect on: Pain, suffering, sacrifice. But most
importantly. Justice, humility, and love.