THE CROSS OF CHRIST – OUR SIGN OF VICTORY
1. God Loved the World So Much…
2. Looking Up to the Cross
Introduction by the Celebrant
1. God Loved the World So Much…
If we were really aware how much God loves us, how could we remain indifferent or refuse God anything? If we deeply believe that he finds us lovable, how could we not put our trust in him? He does not force us: he just invites us: “Here is my love: would you like to accept me and my love? Would you like to share my love with others by loving them too?” What answer do we give God through Jesus?
2. Looking Up to the Cross
In our churches and in most of our homes the crucifix is given a place of honor. Does that mean that we have to love crosses? No, but it says that we believe in our crucified Lord and that we love him dearly. He saved us by his cross and resurrection. He is the sign that God loved us so much that he gave us his only Son to bring us forgiveness and life and love. It is to Jesus on the cross that we look up for strength to bear the crosses that come to us in the difficulties of life. We also look up to him for joy and happiness on our pilgrim way and for unending life beyond death. With Jesus we now celebrate the memory of his sacrifice on the cross and of his resurrection.
First Reading: God Gives His People New Chances
Even when he punishes his people with exile, God cannot but be faithful. He uses even pagans to lead his people back to the Promised Land.
1 Reading: 2 Chr 36:14-16, 19-23
In those days, all the princes of Judah, the priests, and the people
added infidelity to infidelity,
practicing all the abominations of the nations
and polluting the LORD’s temple
which he had consecrated in Jerusalem.
Early and often did the LORD, the God of their fathers,
send his messengers to them,
for he had compassion on his people and his dwelling place.
But they mocked the messengers of God,
despised his warnings, and scoffed at his prophets,
until the anger of the LORD against his people was so inflamed
that there was no remedy.
Their enemies burnt the house of God,
tore down the walls of Jerusalem,
set all its palaces afire,
and destroyed all its precious objects.
Those who escaped the sword were carried captive to Babylon,
where they became servants of the king of the Chaldeans and his sons
until the kingdom of the Persians came to power.
All this was to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah:
“Until the land has retrieved its lost sabbaths,
during all the time it lies waste it shall have rest
while seventy years are fulfilled.”
In the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia,
in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah,
the LORD inspired King Cyrus of Persia
to issue this proclamation throughout his kingdom,
both by word of mouth and in writing:
“Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia:
All the kingdoms of the earth
the LORD, the God of heaven, has given to me,
and he has also charged me to build him a house
in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
Whoever, therefore, among you belongs to any part of his people,
let him go up, and may his God be with him!”
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 137:1-2, 3, 4-5, 6.
R. (6ab) Let my tongue be silenced, if I ever forget you!
By the streams of Babylon
we sat and wept
when we remembered Zion.
On the aspens of that land
we hung up our harps.
R. Let my tongue be silenced, if I ever forget you!
For there our captors asked of us
the lyrics of our songs,
And our despoilers urged us to be joyous:
“Sing for us the songs of Zion!”
R. Let my tongue be silenced, if I ever forget you!
How could we sing a song of the LORD
in a foreign land?
If I forget you, Jerusalem,
may my right hand be forgotten!
R. Let my tongue be silenced, if I ever forget you!
May my tongue cleave to my palate
if I remember you not,
If I place not Jerusalem
ahead of my joy.
R. Let my tongue be silenced, if I ever forget you!
Second Reading: All Is Grace…
By his grace God had saved his people from exile. By God’s grace again, his Son Jesus saves us from the death of sin. In God’s plan everything is a free gift of grace.
Reading 2: Ephesians 2:4-10
Brothers and sisters:
God, who is rich in mercy,
because of the great love he had for us,
even when we were dead in our transgressions,
brought us to life with Christ — by grace you have been saved —,
raised us up with him,
and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus,
that in the ages to come
He might show the immeasurable riches of his grace
in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
For by grace you have been saved through faith,
and this is not from you; it is the gift of God;
it is not from works, so no one may boast.
For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works
that God has prepared in advance,
that we should live in them.
Verse Before the Gospel JN 3:16
God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,
so everyone who believes in him might have eternal life.
Gospel: Saved by the Cross of Christ
Christ had to die on the cross to save us and to give us eternal life. For Christ came not to condemn us but to save us.
Gospel: John 3:14
Jesus said to Nicodemus:
“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.
Whoever believes in him will not be condemned,
but whoever does not believe has already been condemned,
because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
And this is the verdict,
that the light came into the world,
but people preferred darkness to light,
because their works were evil.
For everyone who does wicked things hates the light
and does not come toward the light,
so that his works might not be exposed.
But whoever lives the truth comes to the light,
so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.
Commentary:
What a strange story! The Israelites were being tormented by snakes in the desert, and the remedy was to set up an image of a snake: when they looked at it they were healed! At the natural level, it would be described as an ancient belief in sympathetic magic. But in today’s gospel passage, John sees it as a symbol of the “raising up” of Christ: it was both a raising up in shame and a raising up in glory, and John loved to play on this double meaning. We are saved from eternal death by looking at death!—by contemplating Christ on the cross. The tree of the cross is an instrument of death, but also of life; it is dead but it nourishes life. Here is a prayer translated from ancient Irish: “O King of the Friday, whose limbs were stretched on the cross; O Lord who suffered the bruises, the wounds, the loss: We stretch ourselves beneath the shield of thy might; may some fruit from the tree of thy passion fall on us this night!”
Blessing
God has been very good to us. All we touch is grace from him. We have again experienced his great love in this Eucharistic celebration. With Jesus among us,
can we do anything less than try to make this love tangible to one another, particularly to those in need and sorrow? Let God’s goodness shine in you with the blessing of the almighty and loving God: the Father, and the Son, and Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.
Go in the strength of the Lord and carry each other’s burdens.
R/ Thanks be to God.