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Today, 27th of September, we celebrate
Saint Vincent of Paul
Num 21:4-9
From Mount Hor the Israelites set out by the Red Sea road to go around the land of Edom. The people were discouraged by the journey and began to complain against God and Moses, "Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is neither bread nor water here and we are disgusted with this tasteless manna."
Yahweh then sent fiery serpents against them. They bit the people and many of the Israelites died. Then the people came to Moses and said, "We have sinned, speaking against Yahweh and against you. Plead with Yahweh to take the serpents away."
Moses pleaded for the people and Yahweh said to him, "Make a fiery serpent and set it on a standard; whoever has been bitten and then looks at it shall live."
So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a standard. Whenever a man was bitten, he looked towards the bronze serpent and he lived.
Ps 78:1bc-2, 34-35, 36-37, 38
R./ Do not forget the works of the Lord!
Hearken, my people, to my teaching;
incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth in a parable,
I will utter mysteries from of old.
R./ Do not forget the works of the Lord!
While he slew them they sought him
and inquired after God again,
Remembering that God was their rock
and the Most High God, their redeemer.
R./ Do not forget the works of the Lord!
But they flattered him with their mouths
and lied to him with their tongues,
Though their hearts were not steadfast toward him,
nor were they faithful to his covenant.
R./ Do not forget the works of the Lord!
But he, being merciful, forgave their sin
and destroyed them not;
Often he turned back his anger
and let none of his wrath be roused.
R./ Do not forget the works of the Lord!
Phil 2:6-11
Though being divine in nature,
he did not claim in fact equality with God,
but emptied himself,
taking on the nature of a servant, made in human likeness,
and in his appearance found as a man.
He humbled himself by being obedient to death,
death on the cross.
That is why God exalted him
and gave him the Name which outshines all names,
so that at the Name of Jesus all knees should bend
in heaven, on earth and among the dead,
and all tongues proclaim that Christ Jesus is the Lord
to the glory of God the Father.
Jn 3:13-17
Jesus said to Nicodemus, "No one has ever gone up to heaven except the one who came from heaven, the Son of Man.
As Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
Yes, God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but may have eternal life. God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world; instead, through him the world is to be saved.
Dear friend,
Exaltation of the Cross? What does this mean? Do we exalt a Persian torture device that was used during the Roman Empire as punishment for subversives and revolutionaries? An instrument that caused the most brutal of deaths and agonies is venerated by Christians? What’s glorious about a cross?
Yes, we exalt it because on it the greatest act of love took place: the Son of God gave his life for us. What does this mean? Why did Jesus have to die in this way? It means that in his incarnation, the Father wanted Jesus to go through the hardest part of the human condition. Jesus dies in this way so that every human being who experiences human limitation – physical or psychological pain, that is, abandonment, suffering, loneliness in its maximum expression, illness, helplessness, agony, mockery, physical violence, harassment… – can find in these harsh experiences of life Jesus who is with him, who accompanies him and comforts him in these tunnels of life. That is to say, in the worst that can happen to me, I can also meet Jesus Christ and feel his strength and his comfort because He went through these experiences to fill them with his presence. Because if the encounter with Jesus only happened – which it does – in the human experiences of love, beauty, unity, peace…, in the most beautiful moments of life, the Son of Man would have nothing to say in the face of the problem of evil and suffering. And on the cross, Jesus tells us: you are not alone, I am with you and I help you carry your sufferings. And this happens through many mediations and languages through which the Holy Spirit acts, as He usually does. Don’t you know people who, in the face of a cross-like situation such as cancer, a loss, etc., have faced it with supernatural strength and peace thanks to their faith?
How well today’s Liturgy of the Word captures this gesture of Jesus’ love in the letter to the Philippians: “…he emptied himself… he humbled himself and became obedient to death… Therefore God exalted him to the highest place… so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow…” And this gesture of love from the Father in the Gospel of John that is proclaimed today: “…God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Jesus does not free us from the cross, but he helps us carry it. And, what can I say, I prefer to feel very loved and accompanied in the crosses of my life, because the worst that can happen to us is to live them in solitude. That is why we Christians are called to practice solidarity and mercy, so that no one in their experience of pain feels alone. We are called to be “Christs” for others because others are “Christ” for me. In short, we exalt the cross because in it we also encounter Jesus. Or, in other words, paraphrasing St. Paul, nothing will separate us from the love of God, not even the harshest experiences of life.
In your prayer to God, ask the Lord for the grace to meet Him in the situations of life that most rob you of your inner peace.
Your brother in the faith,
Juan Lozano, cmf.Praise to God our Father,
who loved us so much
that he gave us his only Son,
so that all who believe in him may have eternal life.
May Jesus fill us with his life
and be with you always. R/ And also with you.
Crosses are always hard to carry and we are tempted to grumble and rebel in the pains and trials of life. But Jesus went ahead of us: he bore the cross for us and died on it, then he rose from the dead. God is stronger than death, and the foolishness and scandal of the cross has saved us from sin and death. The cross was Jesus' way to victory. For every disciple of Christ it is the way to life and resurrection. Let us join Jesus in this eucharist and celebrate with him the sacrifice of the cross.
How do we take crosses? Do we bear them with Christ?
Is the Lord's cross to us a scandal
or our hope and salvation?
Let us examine ourselves before the Lord.
(PAUSE)
Lord, you saved us by your cross,
yet crosses embarrass us, yours and ours.
We easily revolt against them.
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Jesus Christ, you humbled yourself
to bring us compassion and pardon,
yet we seek honors and success.
Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.
Lord, the cross was your way to glory
and we give a place of honor to your cross
in our homes but not in our lives.
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Have mercy on us, Lord,
forgive us again and again;
help us to bear our crosses with faith and love
and lead us to everlasting life. R/ Amen.
Let us pray to God that we may learn
to bear our cross with his Son
(PAUSE)
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. R/ Amen
First Reading Introduction: Saved by Faith in the Sign of Salvation
Tired and discouraged from their long journey and stay in the desert, the Hebrews lose faith in God and begin to revolt. God punishes them, but saves those who look up in faith to a sign of salvation.
Second Reading Introduction: The Humiliated Christ Is Glorified
Jesus, God's Son himself, humbled himself by becoming someone like us and even more so by dying for us on the cross. This is why he is now our glorious Lord.
Gospel Introduction: Jesus' Saving Death Gives Life
Because he loved us, God sent his Son into the world as man. By his death, Jesus brought us forgiveness and life.
God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son to save us and bring us life by his death and resurrection. Let us pray to Jesus for all who suffer and let us say: R/ Lord, save us by your cross.
- For those whose life lacks direction, that they may discover Christ the way, let us pray: R/ Lord, save us by your cross.
- For those whose ideals have faded, that they may see and accept the novelty of life and constantly renew themselves, let us pray: R/ Lord, save us by your cross.
- For the perennial losers of their personal struggles against the forces of evil, that they may trust in Christ, whose grace is mightier than sin and death, let us pray: R/ Lord, save us by your cross.
- For those who are lonely, deserted, or shut up within themselves, that they may accept the companionship of Christ and through him open themselves to others, let us pray: R/ Lord, save us by your cross.
- For all of us, that we may learn from our Lord himself to bear our crosses in patience and humility, that in some way they may bring life to us and to whoever is tired and discouraged, let us pray: R/ Lord, save us by your cross.
- For this community, that with Jesus our Savior it may be poor and serving and open to all people and all needs, let us pray: R/ Lord, save us by your cross.
Lord Jesus Christ, your cross remains a mystery to us, as does all pain and want. We rely on your word and example that your cross is a way to joy and freedom. Turn our crosses into bearers of happiness and life, now and for ever. R/ Amen.
Lord God, with this bread and this wine
we celebrate the saving death of your Son.
In moments when suffering strikes
and when we find it hard to bear,
give us the strength, Lord God,
not to murmur and to contest
but to accept that it is your way to glory,
even if we do not understand fully.
We ask you for this courage
through Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
Remember that in this and every eucharist we celebrate the sacrifice of the cross by which Jesus brought us forgiveness and life. Let us thank the Father for it and offer ourselves with Jesus our Lord, that we may overcome evil with him.
Grateful for his saving love,
we pray to our Father in heaven
in the words of Jesus, our Savior: R/ Our Father...
Deliver us, Lord, from every evil
and forgive us the sins
which caused your Son's death on the cross.
Help us to join our crosses to his;
give us courage and patience in life,
as we wait in joyful hope
for the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ. R/ For the kingdom...
This is the Lamb of God
who died on the cross
to take our sins away.
Happy are we to be invited
to eat his bread of strength. R/ Lord, 1 am not worthy...
God, our Lord and Father,
we know that you have made us
for joy and happiness,
yet humiliation and death was the price
which your Son had to pay.
Let us never be ashamed of his cross
or proclaim a painless Christianity,
for we trust you when you call us
to bear witness to you the way you want us to,
through Jesus Christ, your Son and Lord. R/ Amen.
We ourselves have been marked
with the sign of the cross
as people saved by a serving Lord.
On account of the cross,
we have to learn to forgive,
to bear one another's burdens
and to accept the realities of life
as people of hope and trust,
with the blessing of almighty God,
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.
Let us go in the peace of Christ. R/ Thanks be to God.
