FEAST OF THE EXALTATION OF THE HOLY CROSS - Gospel (John 3:13-17) - THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE

“Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up.” (Jn 3:14)

FIRST READING - Num 21:4b-9

"Whenever the serpent bit someone, the person looked at the bronze serpent and recovered."

A reading from the Book of Numbers

⁴ From Mount Hor they set out by way of the Red Sea, to bypass the land of Edom, but the people’s patience was worn out by the journey; ⁵ so the people complained against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness, where there is no food or water? We are disgusted with this wretched food!”^[a]

⁶ So the Lord sent among the people seraph^[b] serpents, which bit the people so that many of the Israelites died. ⁷ Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned in complaining against the Lord and you. Pray to the Lord to take the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people, ⁸ and the Lord said to Moses: Make a seraph and mount it on a pole, and everyone who has been bitten will look at it and recover.^{[c] 9} Accordingly Moses made a bronze serpent^[d] and mounted it on a pole, and whenever the serpent bit someone, the person looked at the bronze serpent and recovered.

SECOND READING - Phil 2:6-11

"God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name."

A reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Philippians

⁶ Who,^[a] though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped.^{[b] 7} Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness;^[c] and found human in appearance, ⁸ he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.^[d]9 Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name^[e] that is above every name, ¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend,^[f] of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,^[g] to the glory of God the Father.

GOSPEL OF THE DAY - Jn 3:13-17

"Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up."

✠From the Gospel according to John

¹³ No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man. ¹⁴ And just as Moses lifted up^[a] the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ^15 [b]so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave^[c] his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn^[d] the world, but that the world might be saved through him.

FEAST OF THE EXALTATION OF THE HOLY CROSS - Gospel (John 3:13-17)

THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE

Dear people of God,

Today the Church celebrates the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, the Word of God in today's Gospel wants to tell all humanity: Jesus Christ is God, He is a God of Love. God's love is expressed through the sign of the cross of Jesus Christ.

The image of Jesus Christ being crucified, dying on the cross, shows humanity: God loves humanity immensely! He sacrificed himself, died to redeem the sins of all people. He took the sins of all people on himself and was nailed to the cross. As many sins of man, are as many nails driven into the very body of Jesus Christ. The sign of Jesus Christ's love for humanity, is expressed from the Old Testament to the New Testament.

That sign was expressed through the words of God to Moses: make a bronze snake and hang it on a tree, whoever looks at the tree with the bronze snake hanging on it will be saved. The reason is because the people blamed God and Moses. They had sinned and displeased God and He allowed evil to happen, by letting poisonous snakes bite and kill many people. After the people sinned and were bitten to death by snakes, the people realized that they had sinned against God and Moses; so they ran to ask God to forgive their sins, and their prayers were answered by God. He showed mercy and saved the people by instructing Moses to hang the bronze snake on a tree, so that whoever believed in the Word of God spoken through Moses, by looking at the bronze snake, would live. God's saving love has been shown since the Old Testament and continues to this day. It is the image of a loving Jesus Christ dying and hanging on the cross.

Today, God also invites His sinful children: to look up at the cross of love, sincerely recognize how their sins have offended God and others, to repent and return to God, ask Him to forgive, ask Him to cleanse all sins and grant healing to have eternal life.

God said that: in this world, everyone is a sinner. Therefore, He accepted death on the cross, so that anyone who looks up at that cross, believes in God’s Love, asks Him to forgive, asks Him to grant the grace of conversion, will have eternal life and happiness with God. The cross of God's saving love will last forever until the end of the world.

God came to the world to save humanity. He never condemned, judged or brought evil to people, but He sacrificed His life, to die just because He loved people. Therefore, He calls all His children: to sincerely repent of their sins when looking up at the cross where God Himself is present, crucified, and died to redeem humanity. Whoever wants to have the resurrection life with Jesus Christ, must look up at the cross of love, follow God's teachings and He will save that person's soul.

Thanks be to God. Amen.