September 14, Tuesday

  September 14, Tuesday

TWENTY-FOURTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

 

Jesus keeps reminding us in the gospels that being his disciple is something not to be taken lightly, for to be a disciple means to be one who follows the master. So the disciple has to face the cross, just as Jesus had to face it and take it up. To him it brought the victory of life over death, of grace over sin, of final resurrection and happiness. Jesus was willing to pay the price for it. He asks us, his disciples: Can you take up your cross after me? What answer do we give him in this eucharist?

 

First Reading: Numbers 21:4-9

They set out from Mount Hor along the Red Sea Road, a detour around the land of Edom. The people became irritable and cross as they traveled. They spoke out against God and Moses: “Why did you drag us out of Egypt to die in this godforsaken country? No decent food; no water—we can’t stomach this stuff any longer.”

So God sent poisonous snakes among the people; they bit them and many in Israel died. The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke out against God and you. Pray to God; ask him to take these snakes from us.”

Moses prayed for the people.

God said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it on a flagpole: Whoever is bitten and looks at it will live.”

So Moses made a snake of fiery copper and put it on top of a flagpole. Anyone bitten by a snake who then looked at the copper snake lived.

 

Second Reading: Philippians 2:6-11

Jesus had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.

Because of that obedience, God lifted him high and honored him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, so that all created beings in heaven and on earth—even those long ago dead and buried—will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that he is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father.

 

Gospel: John 3:13-17

“No one has ever gone up into the presence of God except the One who came down from that Presence, the Son of Man. In the same way that Moses lifted the serpent in the desert so people could have something to see and then believe, it is necessary for the Son of Man to be lifted up—and everyone who looks up to him, trusting and expectant, will gain a real life, eternal life.

“This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it.

 

Prayer

Lord, God of loyalty,
we are constantly under the threat
of contesting our dependence on you
and of blaming you for the evil in the world.
Lord God, make us see
the redeeming value of suffering.
Give us the mentality of Jesus Christ:
make us ready to be totally Christian,
totally committed to you and to people,
even at the cost of suffering.
Give us the strength to follow all the way
your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

Reflection:

 Fix our eyes on the Cross

The Cross is the sacred symbol of our faith. Yet, for the first three centuries after the death of Jesus on the cross, the Christians intentionally did not use the cross as a symbol of their faith. They were recognized in other symbols—the anchor, the fish, the loaves, the dove, the shepherd—but they were reluctant to depict the cross. It evoked the infamous death of their Master, death reserved for slaves and brigands, and that was one of the reasons they were ridiculed by the non-believers. “We proclaim a crucified Messiah. For the Jews, what a great scandal! And for the Greeks, what nonsense!”—wrote Paul (1 Cor 1:23). But the Christians were reluctant to translate this truth into a symbol. On 14 September, 335 a huge crowd of pilgrims flocked from all over the world in Jerusalem. They celebrated the feast of the dedication of the basilica built by Constantine on the site of the holy sepulchre. On the rock of Calvary, the emperor placed a wonderful jewelled cross to mark the place of Christ’s sacrifice. That day marked the transition to the worship of the cross. They started to manufacture it with the most precious metals, was embedded with pearls, appeared everywhere, on churches, on banners, on the crown of the prince, on the coins…. Today’s gospel speaks about the discourse of Jesus to Nicodemus calls on us to look to Jesus who is “lifted up” on the Wood of the Cross; We are called to keep your eyes fixed on the love that God has revealed on Calvary. The cross is the antidote to the poison of the serpent – the devil, that can induce to kill the innocent. At every moment, we come across snakes that can poison our existence. They are the craving for possessions, the frenzy of power, the desire for recognition. Only an eye directed to him who was lifted up on the Cross can cure us of this poison. The Cross is the reference point of each gaze of the believer who sees the total proposal made to him by the Master of life. Today’s feast also reveals how God expresses his judgment: According to the criteria of this world, the cross is the sign of defeat and failure of a lifetime. According to the judgment of God, it is the supreme proof of love. The Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross invites everyone to evaluate one’s life, based on the life, lifted on the Cross.

 

Video available on Youtube: Fix our eyes on the Cross