Homily-The Exaltation of the Holy Cross/September 14
Christ’s Cross: A Symbol of Hope and Salvation
v Num 21:4b-9
v Ps 78:1bc-2, 34-38
v Phil 2:6-11
v John 3:13-17
Today’s
feast reminds us that the events of the Passion Week recorded in John 18–19,
especially Christ’s death on the cross, was not a defeat, but a victory. Christ’s
cross is a symbol of hope and freedom for all. The early Christians embraced this.
Its public veneration spread from east to west, especially during the time of the
Roman Emperor Constantine. We are told that Constantine’s mother, Helen, went to
Jerusalem, where she discovered the cross of Christ and brought it to Rome, sparing
it from the enemies’ desecration.
This cross
is sacred, powerful, and salvific. It is the center of our Christian faith. We make
the sign of the cross during worship, at baptism, and when we receive other sacraments
in the church. We begin every Mass with the sign of the cross. Athletes—even those
who aren’t practicing Christians—sometimes sign themselves with the cross for success
and protection at the beginning and end of their competitions. Christ’s journey
to the cross teaches us some fundamentals of our faith: courage, endurance, hope,
patience, humility, and appreciation of all that the Lord has done for us in the
past.
Psalm 78
drums this home: “[do] not forget the works of God” (Ps 78:7). To what works of
the Lord is the psalmist referring? I believe he refers to the cross of the exodus—the
freedom from Pharaoh’s tyranny, when he alleviates the Israelites from their pain,
feeds them when they are thirsty and hungry in the desert, and liberates them from
various exiles during the course of their relationship with him.
How easy
it is to forget the goodness of the Lord, to murmur and complain, as was the case
in today’s first reading, the book of Numbers. The same people that God had
liberated said to Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the
wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we detest this miserable
food” (Num 21:5). God sent a snake to challenge them. But when they finally repented,
God instructed Moses to put up a bronze serpent so that the afflicted—those who
had been bitten—could be saved by looking up to the serpent on the tree. The bronze
snake is a symbol of life and wisdom. It is a symbol of Christ, who did not consider
himself equal to God, but humbled himself on the tree of the cross to save us. His
humility, courage, and endurance exalted him (Phil 2:6-11). And his volitional journey
to the cross raised us and our loved ones from the death.
Many of
us have watched the passion of Christ reenacted in movies. Some of those scenes
are brutal. The weight of the cross, the blood, the nails, the violent soldiers,
the dusty road, the thorns and crowns, those who spit on cross, and those who shouted,
“Crucify him! Crucify him!” All these remind us that there are different forms of
crosses in our lives. Our cross could take the form of an illness, poverty, the
threat of terrorism, violence, war, tiredness, pain, heart problems, kidney
failure, high blood pressure, or sugar in our blood. It could take the form of anger,
bad habits, lack of team spirit, the inability to live or work with one another,
lack of tolerance, gossip, or lack of self-control.
All these
can lead us to whine, murmur, and complain like the Israelites in the desert. But
the good news is that these bitter experiences can also be handled with faith and
trust in the goodness of the Lord. We can always look back and trust in his work,
knowing that the Lord has dealt with these types of problems. It requires our patience,
courage, and endurance to embrace the cross of Christ. It also takes humility to
raise our eyes and look to that cross hanging above our pain and sorrow. Christ’s
cross is superior to our failures, setbacks, and sufferings.
This is
the same conversation that Christ is having with Nicodemus in today’s Gospel (John
3:13-17). The Lord is good, merciful, and loving. Just as Moses lifted up the serpent
in the desert so those who were bitten and afflicted could be saved, so must the
Son of Man be lifted up so that each of us who look upon him in our sufferings and
illnesses, in our bitterness, in our sorrows, in our disappointments, loneliness,
and uncertainties, may be saved. Christ’s cross is a symbol of hope and salvation
for all.
Reflection
Questions:
1. What
prevents you from seeing the hidden glory in the cross of Christ?
2. Do you
see glory, exaltation, and hope for salvation in the midst of suffering?
3. How
do you bring hope and consolation to the suffering members of your faith community?
