Today we celebrate the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. Our first reading,
Num 21: 4b-9, is the story of the bronze serpent which Moses erected in the
desert. The Israelites had been complaining bitterly against God and Moses. In
anger, God sent seraph serpents. Anyone bitten by these serpents died. The
Israelites realized their sinfulness and acknowledged it before Moses. Moses
then interceded for them, molded a bronze statue of a seraph serpent. Anyone who
gazed upon this serpent--a reminder of the sin of deceit and sensuality--and
repented of their sin was saved.
We, too, are saved. God sent His only
begotten Son into the world, not to condemn it, but to save it. Jesus was
raised upon the cross, becoming sin for us, uniting our sinfulness with His
sinlessness, reconciling us to God, making peace through the Cross. All who
look upon Jesus on the Cross, acknowledge and repent of their sinfulness are
saved and are given the inheritance of eternal life with God in heaven.
Am I willing to face the evil in my life? Am I willing to acknowledge my
sinful behaviors and attitudes? Am I repentant? Do I look upon Christ and
believe in God's desire to save me, that is, to make me into the very holiness
of God (cf 2 Cor 5: 21)?
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