Homily for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

 

Nm 21:4-9

Ps 78:1-2, 34-38

Phil 2:6-11

Jn 3:13-17

 

St. Jude Thaddeus Catholic Church, Burkburnett, TX

 

In today’s Gospel from St. John, Jesus invoked the bronze serpent from our first reading in Numbers. This is the first of three times in the Gospel Jesus will prophecy about Himself being raised up as the fulfillment of God’s plan of salvation. To be lifted up has two meanings: In the literal sense, it refers to Jesus being bodily raised up from the ground on the cross. Lifted up also means the sense of being exalted – to be glorified, to be magnified, to be enthroned.  Jesus uses this phrase ‘lifted up’ in both ways in the Gospel. He will indeed be lifted up from the ground on the cross in shame as a lowly criminal. But the crucifixion of Jesus Christ will also be the moment of His exaltation wherein He reveals the infinite depths of the love of God for His children!

In the desert, the Israelites had been complaining again, as they are accustomed to do. It is almost a national pastime for them by this point. But this time, they crossed the line. Previously they had grumbled and complained against Moses and Aaron. This time, they rebelliously grumbled and complained against God Himself. As punishment for their disobedience, God sent fiery serpents to bite and kill them. The Israelites begged for Moses to intercede on their behalf, and he did so, being instructed by God to make the bronze serpent. When they gazed upon the symbolic representation of their sins, they received healing and life in return. Likewise, whomever looks in true faith on the cross, the ultimate effect of human sin – the crucifixion of God’s only Son – they are changed and given eternal life.

The cross is the greatest expression of God’s infinite love for his children. The world is under condemnation because of sin. Both the original sin of our original parents and the sins we continue to commit in disobedience to Him. But God loves every one of us so deeply, He does not want to lose any of us, for we are dear to Him. God the Father gave His Son for the salvation of the world, even knowing we would nail him to the cross with our sins. Yes, my friends, WE put Him there on that cross. Even so, Jesus gave Himself willingly because he loves us. He transformed the cross from an tool of torture and execution into the instrument of our salvation. And what is salvation, my dear Christians? Salvation is eternal life – participation in the divine life of the Holy Trinity.

We hear John 3:16 all the time and see it written on signs. But do we understand what it is saying? “Everyone who believes in Him MIGHT not perish, but MIGHT have eternal life.” The cross of Jesus Christ is the way to salvation for those who look to Christ with a true and living faith. But for those who refuse to believe and choose not to follow Him, the cross is condemnation. Vatican II teaches us “The words of Christ are at once words of judgment and grace, of life and death. For it is only by putting to death that which is old that we can come to newness of life. […] No one is freed from sin by himself or by his own efforts, no one is raised above himself or completely delivered from his own weakness, solitude or slavery; all have need of Christ, who is the model, master, liberator, saviour, and giver of life” (Ad Gentes, 8)

What is our response then to the cross, my friends? Do we fear the cross, or do we take it up daily, knowing that Jesus Christ carries it with us? Do we recoil from  the cross in horror and dwell solely upon our sins, or do we gaze upon the cross revealed as the sign of God’s unending love and infinite mercy? Does the cross cause us to turn away in despair as did Judas, or does it beckon to us to return and follow Christ like Peter? “If it is true that God has created us, that he has redeemed us, that he loves us so much that he has given up his only-begotten Son for us (cf. Jn 3:16), that he waits for us—every day!—as eagerly as the father of the prodigal son did (cf. Lk 15:11–32), how can we doubt that he wants us to respond to him with all our love?” - (St Josemaría Escrivá, Friends of God, 251)

 

St. Joseph, Protector of the Church, Pray for Us!