“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.” John 3:14-15
The bites of the serpent are like the sins which we commit, a poisonous sting that leads to death, while the raised bronze serpent is like the Christ raised on the Cross, a divine cure that provides us with salvation and eternal life. This is the image which we consider in the readings this weekend and in the feast which we celebrate, The Exaltation of the Holy Cross. To be saved from death and sin, we must do more than remember the Cross and its implications, we must always live the way of the Cross and remain focused on the Cross – on the crucified Christ – who offer us, through his crucifixion, a path towards salvation. Yes, the glory comes with the empty Cross, the resurrection, but to get there, we must go through the crucifixion. There is no resurrection without the crucifixion, no glory without the suffering, and today, we’re reminded of this path.
More than Christ hoisted on the Cross, we’re mindful of our commitment, like Christ, our submission to the Father’s will, and our acknowledgement of the actions that placed Christ on the Cross – our sinfulness and disobedience. Yet, our focus is truly on the action of Christ; it’s to say, his personal act which led to Cross – the extent of his love for us, enduring all this to save our souls from eternal damnation. Gazing then on the Cross, we see both our salvation and our path to salvation … we see our obedience to God’s will and how obedience leads to love – love of God, love of neighbor, and love of self … we see how we too are called to share in God’s love. Therefore, we nail to the Cross our sins, our prides, our ego, anything that separates us from God, and we become humble like Christ on the Cross, accepting his sacrifice for us so that we may be spared from sin – the sting of death – and embrace the grace offered upon the Holy Cross.
This week, the Church also remembers St Robert Bellarmine, a Jesuit cardinal, Doctor of the Church, and the patron saint of Catechists. His body of work is extensive, but he’s also remembered for his many writings on the Holy Cross. His insights on the Cross are profound and offer a deeper understanding of the significance of Christ’s crucifixion and its relation to charity, the role of the Church, and the divine plan of salvation. For example, when it came to the Holy Cross and its implications on charity, he said: “Charity is that with which no man is lost, and without which no man is saved.” Isn’t that what Christ showed on the Cross … charity, love?
In Christ
Fr Robert