Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

Information about the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross[1]

Readings fro the Feast of the Exultation of the Holy Cross[2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible

Commentary:

Reading 1 Nm 21:4b-9

After coming up out of Egypt, the children of Israel complained bitterly about the conditions among them, the bad food and water especially. As a punishment for their ingratitude, God “sent among the people saraph serpents.”

Moses, always interceding for the people, is instructed to make an image of the snake and set it on a pole and anyone who sees it will be healed. The imagery clearly reminds us of the St. John’s Gospel; the Son of Man who is lifted up on the Cross and anyone who sees and believes will have life everlasting. (Jn 3: 14-15)

Responsorial Psalm Ps 78:1bc-2, 34-35, 36-37, 38
R. Do not forget the works of the Lord!

This psalm selection rejoices in God’s patience with his people in spite of their faithlessness. It recounts that many times the Lord held back his wrath against that “stiff necked” people.

Reading II Phil 2:6-11

This is what is known as the Kenotic (Empting) Hymn from St. Paul’s Letter to the Philippians. Probably used in early liturgy, it recalls how Christ took the form of man and for the sake of mankind, humbly submitted to death on the cross. His humiliation was turned to victory by God the Father as he is raised up for our salvation.

Gospel Jn 3:13-17

Taking the image given in Numbers above, Jesus tells Nicodemus that humanity will be saved when the Son of Man is lifted up on the Cross.. The passage continues with the great profession of Jesus’ relation as only Son of God the Father and the redemptive mission upon which he was sent.

Reflection:

The celebration today focuses on the recovery by the Church of relics of the True Cross. Historically, this feast was celebrated in Rome before the end of the 7th century to commemorate the recovery of that portion of the Holy Cross, which was preserved at Jerusalem, and which had fallen into the hands of the Persians. Emperor Heraclius recovered this precious relic and brought it back to Jerusalem, 3 May 629.

Let’s take a moment and look at the wonderful metaphor set up for us today as we think about the Cross, how the Lord took that Roman symbol of humiliation and transformed it into our symbol of victory.

In Numbers we hear how, because of the grumbling of the Hebrews, the Father sent them saraph serpents, venomous snakes that caused a number of deaths among the wandering group. We hear how Moses prayed to God and how the Lord told him to make a saraph and place it on a staff, lifting it up high so it could be seen from a distance. He told the people that the Father had told him, anyone who was bitten and looked at that symbol would not die.

Then comes that amazing testimony from the Gospel of St. John;

“No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, 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.”

The linkage is plain, the metaphor complete. Whoever is poisoned by sin need only lift up their hearts and eyes to Jesus who is hung upon the Cross and they will be saved.That does not mean for us that once we have gazed upon that enigmatic symbol once meant to be the ultimate humiliation and excruciating death, now turned to the great hope for eternal life, that we are saved even if we turn away. Our eyes must remain firmly fixed upon the Cross and what it stands for.

The Glorious news for us today is that that path to salvation is open to us. The Cross itself tells us that that path will not be easy. The Cross remains a symbol of hope, it is also a reminder that Jesus has told us that if we wish to follow him, we must take up our own cross and all that implies to follow his steps, stumbling and falling, enduring the sufferings of this life’s journey, until at last we can rest with him.

Pax
[1] The picture used today is Discovery of the True Cross by Giovanni Battsta Tiepolo, 1745
[2] After Links to Readings Expire