I am very grateful that at mass yesterday we were reminded that today would be the most amazing feast - The Exultation of the Cross! I am very excited by this most powerful reminder of how we have gained our salvation and how we are to continue on the journey - even when we are "worn out by the journey" as the Israelites were in Numbers today. How were they reminded of the respect and LOVE they need to give God? By serpents biting them and many dying. When forgiveness was asked through the prayers of Moses - how were they answered? Not by taking away the serpents with their poison, but by having the bronze serpent made so that looking upon it they may be saved from death! The pain and fear continue, but if we embrace/hold the Cross in high esteem as it is raised up for us... we will find LIFE eternal, Love everlasting and LIGHT to chase away the darkness/sin/fear/death!
Reading 2 Phil 2:6-11
"Brothers and sisters:
Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God something to be grasped.
Rather, he emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
coming in human likeness;
and found human in appearance,
he humbled himself,
becoming obedient to death,
even death on a cross.
Because of this, God greatly exalted him
and bestowed on him the name
that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father. "
Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God something to be grasped.
Rather, he emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
coming in human likeness;
and found human in appearance,
he humbled himself,
becoming obedient to death,
even death on a cross.
Because of this, God greatly exalted him
and bestowed on him the name
that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father. "
Wow! Wow! Wow!
Jesus, the journey does get long and hard and the cross very real in our lives... but all we need do is look upon the beauty of your conquering sin and death and darkness by embracing your Most Cherished Cross - the Tree of LIFE! May we always follow after you, and look upon The Cross to find healing now and forever. Jesus, we trust in you. Amen and Hallelujah
From the Gospel today - 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... For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal LIFE. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. John 3: 13-17
R. Hallelujah , hallelujah.
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you,
because by your Cross you have redeemed the world.
R. Hallelujah, hallelujah.
May I die to self so that You may live in me, Jesus!
Maria placed this message by the Crucifix in her brother's room when she left for the Monastery...
This is how one loves! Wow!
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