On the church calendar, September 14 is the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross and when 9/14 falls on a Sunday, it supersedes what would have been the expected Sunday readings and prayers.
Here's a link to this day's special readings and below you'll find the text of my homily. After that, you'll find a recording of the hymn I referenced in my homily.
What we saw in today's first scripture - Moses affixing a bronze serpent to a tall pole for people to gaze upon - that might seem to be some kind of primitive superstition. But there's an abiding wisdom in what Moses did. And it's one we're familiar with. And the wisdom is this: the first step towards healing and recovery is confronting one's demons.
That's just what Moses did for the people. He lifted up an image of the snake -- which was the consequence of the people's grumbling dissatisfaction with bread from heaven, bread which had been their godsend, literally, in the desert. And in facing the image of the demon snake, a vivid reminder of their sin - the people found healing.
So perhaps it begins to become obvious why that story would be chosen for the Feast of the Holy Cross and paired with the gospel Colm just read for us.
A critical phase in today's gospel of these two simple words, “just as…” “Just as” Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert - so was Jesus lifted up for us on the cross. The lifting up of Christ on the cross allows us to confront our own grumbling dissatisfaction, our own failings, our own sins. As the snakes and their lethal bites were the consequence of the Israelites’ sins, so is the suffering and death of Jesus crucified the consequence of our sins.
Christ, suffering and dying, is the vivid image of the pain, the hurt, the death, that our sins visits on us and on others. That happens when we are unfaithful to the law of love, the law of God, God who so loved the world that he gave away his only son for us.
There are times, as on Good Friday, when we lift up the cross to gaze on Jesus to remind us of our need for His mercy. And then there are days like today, when we look to the cross of Jesus as the sign of healing and victory. Christ's victory over death is the healing he offers us: the forgiveness of our sins and the promise of life forever.
So we might ask ourselves this morning: what demons do you and I need to face today? What sins of yours, what sins of mine, do you and I need to confront? What demons in the world, in the church, in our culture - what demons do we need to face and confront so that in naming them, in confessing them - we might open ourselves up to the healing God offers us.
Just as the Israelites began to take for granted the gift of bread from heaven, so might we sometimes begin to take for granted the image, the power, and the healing of the cross of Christ. I'll bet 99% of us walked into this church this morning and dipped our hands in some holy water and made the sign of the Cross. We made the sign of the cross again at the beginning of mass. We'll make the sign of the cross again at the end of mass. Every time we pray, we make the sign of cross. This is what we do, huh? We take it for granted. And how often do we take the bread of heaven at this altar for granted? How often do we forget that in the bread and cup of this table is the Body and the Blood of Jesus crucified.
Today, the scriptures, our prayer, even our song, encourage us to “lift high Cross.” Our opening hymn was Lift High the Cross. In all that we're praying for a new appreciation of the mercy and love of God.
Did you know that at one point in your life, you were claimed by the church for Jesus? We actually sang about it in the opening hymn. Let's see, the second verse... “Each newborn servant of the crucified…” that word here, “newborn.” Either in our infancy, or as an adult, we were newborn into Christ, through baptism.
“Each newborn servant of the crucified - bears on the brow - the seal of him who died.”
At your baptism, at my baptism, the priest said these words. "The church welcomes you with great joy and in its name, I claim you for Christ, our Savior, by the sign of the Cross."
And then He traced the cross on our brow - and invited our parents and our godparents to do the same thing. When we baptize adults, we do a much fuller sign of that. When we have babies, we just do a little cross on the forehead. When we were getting ready to baptize adults, we signed their whole bodies with the cross. You may have been at church one Sunday when this happened with those preparing for baptism. Well, just in case you haven't, and presuming that most of us don't remember our own baptism, I'm going to do that with you right now.
This is what happens when we baptize adults. And what it is, it's called th signing of the senses, it goes over your whole body. And so I'm going to invite you - just where you are - as I name each place - to just take your thumb - and trace a little cross on your body there, okay?
So receive the sign of the Cross + on your forehead. It is Jesus Him himself who strengthens you with this sign of his love. Learn to know Him more deeply, pray to him more frequently, and follow him more faithfully.
Receive the sign of the Cross + on your eyes. (Both of them!) Day by day, may you see the glory of God all around you. May you see the face of Jesus in everyone you know and meet: in family, friend, stranger, and enemy alike.
Receive the sign of the Cross + on your ears. May you listen to the Lord's voice - and for the word of His truth: in the whisper of the Spirit, in the scriptures, in your prayer, and in the words those around you speak to you.
Receive the sign of the Cross + on your lips. Let no harsh or unkind words pass your lips. May all your speech be true, charitable, kind, and may you always speak the name of Jesus with reverence and love.
Receive the sign of the Cross + on your shoulders. May you willingly take up the cross that is yours to bear. May you reach out to others and help them carry the crosses they bear. May you always remember that Jesus, who carried his own cross, will always help you carry yours.
Receive the sign of the Cross + over your heart. May you open your heart each morning to the Lord who walks by your side. As you live each day, may you open your heart to all whose paths cross yours. And before you go to sleep at night, may you entrust your heart to the mercy of God.
Receive the sign of the Cross + on your hands. May Christ be known in all the work you do. May you never lift your hand in anger to threaten or harm your neighbor. May your hands be always ready to reach out and share with those in need.
(This one's a reach!)
Receive the sign of the Cross + on your feet. (You can just look down there if you want.) May you walk this day in the footsteps of Jesus. May your path take the road to eternal life. May you never stray from the path of Jesus, who is our way, our truth, and our life.
May the Cross of Christ - lifted in glory - be our hope, our life, and our peace!
And finally, let us bless ourselves, as we always do, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”
Lift High the Cross
arranged by Sterling Proctor
If a video doesn't appear below, click here!
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