The Triumph of the Cross In cruce salus

The Triumph of the Cross � In cruce salus (Latin) - Salvation in the Cross

The bronze serpent foreshadows the cross In Numbers 21: 5 -9, we find that the people of Israel were afflicted with serpents in the wilderness because of their sin. God instructed Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live. ” The bronze serpent points to the cross of Christ which defeats sin and death and obtains everlasting life for those who believe.

Lifted up on the cross � The result of Jesus “being lifted up on the cross” and His rising and exaltation to the Father’s right hand in heaven, is our “new birth in the Spirit” and adoption as sons and daughters of God not only redeems us, but He fills us with his own divine life and power that we might share in His glory.

May we boast only in the cross � St. Paul speaks often about the cross in his letters. He says that his only boast is in the cross of Jesus. He frequently reminds us that there is no work we do that earns us redemption. Rather, through the cross, God has done the work of uniting Jews and Gentiles. He preached that God had nailed our sins and their resulting guilt to the cross; when Jesus died on the cross so did our guilt.

St Paul on the Cross � The mystery Paul preached is that it was the very instrument that put Jesus to death that was also the means of our new life. What we could not do, God did. Paul concluded that we have reason to exult because the power of sin and death are conquered through the cross. We adore you O Christ & we Bless You, because by your Holy Cross You have Redeemed the world!

God is Love � Jesus said in the Gospel of John: “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that he who believes in him might not perish but have eternal life. ” Jesus came to this world to help us through life, to teach us how to truly live. By becoming human like us, He showed us it can be done. He wants to have a relationship with us, to dwell within us. Paul also told us today that Jesus emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave, being human in likeness; He humbled Himself, being obedient even to death for us. Death on a Cross.

Reflection I asked myself a question during my reflection on the readings: How do these teachings fit into the picture of life: denying ourselves, losing our lives, and following the crucified One? Well, God wants us to love. Because that is God’s purpose for us, He builds it into our nature. We want to love and we feel terrible if we don’t love.

Love is… � Now anybody who has ever loved knows that it costs, but they still want to do it. They want to give things to those they love, to do things for them. They help them bear their burdens. They stick with them through difficult times. It hurts. That is the denying of self, the losing of life. � 1 Corinthians 13

A Prophet is never liked in his own town � Sr. Marsha Sinetar said in an article: “If your love is broad and deep so that, for example, you want to change the system to help those who are being squashed by it, you might get threatened, beat up, or killed. ” It happened to persons like Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi and Jesus of Nazareth. Who are the modern day prophets today?

� This is all for love, for relationship: we are all called to this cross. The cross of Jesus gives us many things to reflect on: pain, suffering, sacrifice; but most importantly, justice, humility, and love. Read more at Feast of The Cross

Good Friday Every Good Friday we enter into the mystery of the Passion and Death of the God-Man, the 2 nd Person of the Divine Trinity, meditating in silence and remorse on the Cross, the instrument of torture. It was an instrument of torture that our Saviour wilfully deigned to take upon Himself so that all of our offenses to Almighty God could be paid by His Precious Blood.

Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross On the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (September 14 th), we recall the Cross not as an instrument of death but as a symbol of our Lord's triumph over sin, Satan, and death. We recall that it is through Baptism that each one of us is baptized into the death of Christ, and by accepting our sufferings in this world, we too carry our crosses, in imitation of the Divine Redeemer, so that we may be brought to the Resurrection (Luke 9: 23, 24)

Image Source: Piero della Francesca. Legend of the True Cross : Exaltation of the Cross. c. 1452 -66. 390 x 747 cm. Fresco. San Francesco, Arezzo, Italy

The Collect: � O God, Who this day dost gladden us by the yearly feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross: grant, we beseech Thee, that we who on earth acknowledge the mystery of Redemption wrought upon it, may be worthy to enjoy the rewards of that same Redemption in heaven. Through the same our Lord. Prayer Source: 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal

Because by your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world

Exaltation of the Holy Cross Novena � Jesus, Who because of Your burning love for us willed to be crucified and to shed Your Most Precious Blood for the redemption and salvation of our souls, look down upon us and grant the petition we ask for. . . (mention here)

� We trust completely in Your Mercy. Cleanse us from sin by Your Grace, sanctify our work, give us and all those who are dear to us our daily bread, lighten the burden of our sufferings, bless our families, and grant to the nations, so sorely afflicted, Your Peace, which is the only true peace, so that by obeying Your Commandments we may come at last to the glory of Heaven. � Amen

The Cross of Christ Crucified Have you found your cross yet? You can’t follow Christ until you find it. He himself pointed that out: “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. ” (Luke 9: 23). Yes, the joy of the Resurrection always rises out of the pain of the crucifixion. Only by battling to resist the urges of selfishness out of love for God and his Kingdom can we experience the peace of Christ’s love. We all have our personal combination of selfish tendencies, our own recipe of challenges and difficulties in life, which make up the fibre of our cross. Have you found yours? Do you pick it up each day?

Your Cross Today, September 14 th, is an especially good day to look for it, or to remind yourself of it, or to polish it up, because today the Church celebrates the Triumph of the Cross. Originally this celebration was linked to St. Helen’s miraculous fourth-century finding of the cross on which Jesus had been crucified. The Emperor Constantine constructed magnificent Basilicas on the hill of Calvary and over the Holy Sepulchre (where Christ was buried) to honour the cross of Christ. When the Persian armies conquered Palestine around the year 600, they carried off the pieces of the True Cross, which had been housed in the basilicas. The Emperor Heraclius recovered them in 614, on September 14 th. Ever since, the Church has commemorated the event, and taken advantage of it not only to venerate the actual pieces of wood, but also to praise Christ for the sacrifice he offered upon that wood, a sacrifice that reunited God and man forever.

The cross is at the heart of the Christian message. It is the intersection of the human and the divine, the arms of God outstretched to embrace suffering mankind, the new tree of eternal life whose fruit is the Holy Eucharist. If only I could walk you through the ancient churches in Rome and Palestine, and show you the surpassingly beautiful mosaics and sculptures of the cross, bedecked with jewels and bursting forth in flowing rivers of grace! Yes indeed, as today’s Mass says, “We should glory in the cross of our lord Jesus Christ, for he is our salvation, our life and our resurrection; through him we are saved and made free. ” (Cf. Galatians 6: 14) Look for your cross and embrace it with all your strength. It will be your life raft, your ladder, your secret passage right into the heart of the Lord. Read more at Triumph of The Holy Cross – September 14

Don’t just wear the cross bear the Cross

Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews

Reading 1, Numbers 21: 4 -9 4 They left Mount Hor by the road to the Sea of Suph, to skirt round Edom. On the way the people lost patience. 5 They spoke against God and against Moses, 'Why did you bring us out of Egypt to die in the desert? For there is neither food nor water here; we are sick of this meagre diet. ' 6 At this, God sent fiery serpents among the people; their bite brought death to many in Israel. 7 The people came and said to Moses, 'We have sinned by speaking against Yahweh and against you. Intercede for us with Yahweh to save us from these serpents. ' Moses interceded for the people, 8 and Yahweh replied, 'Make a fiery serpent and raise it as a standard. Anyone who is bitten and looks at it will survive. ' 9 Moses then made a serpent out of bronze and raised it as a standard, and anyone who was bitten by a serpent and looked at the bronze serpent survived.

Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 78: 1 - 2, 34 -35, 36 -37, 38 1 [Psalm Of Asaph] My people, listen to my teaching, pay attention to what I say. 2 I will speak to you in poetry, unfold the mysteries of the past. 34 Whenever he slaughtered them, they began to seek him, they turned back and looked eagerly for him, 35 recalling that God was their rock, God the Most High, their redeemer. 36 They tried to hoodwink him with their mouths, their tongues were deceitful towards him; 37 their hearts were not loyal to him, they were not faithful to his covenant. 38 But in his compassion he forgave their guilt instead of killing them, time and again repressing his anger instead of rousing his full wrath,

Gospel, John 3: 13 -17 13 No one has gone up to heaven except the one who came down from heaven, the Son of man; 14 as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so must the Son of man be lifted up 15 so that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him. 16 For this is how God loved the world: he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. 17 For God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but so that through him the world might be saved.

The Mystery of the Cross The Cross – Son of God https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=h 9 UN 7 Ipxr. NM � The Paschal Mystery: Together at One Altar http: //www. togetheratonealtar. catholic. edu. au/expl ore/dsp-content. cfm? loadref=61 � The Mystery of the Cross http: //www. americancatholic. org/Newsletters/YU/a y 0303. asp �

Catholic Online Sunday 14 September 2014 http: //www. catholic. org/bible/daily_reading/? select_date=2014 -09 -14 � � � Catholic Online Triumph of the Holy Cross http: //www. catholic. org/video/watch. php? v=8605 video 15: 46 sec The Paradox of the Triumph of the Cross http: //www. catholic. org/video/watch. php? v=3478 5: 33 sec The Exaltation of the Holy Cross http: //www. catholic. org/video/watch. php? v=5009 10: 41 Exaltation of the Cross: Facts from About. com Catholicism http: //catholicism. about. com/od/holydaysandholidays/p/Ex altation-Of-The-Holy-Cross. htm �

Reading 2, Philippians 2: 6 -11 6 Who, being in the form of God, did not count equality with God something to be grasped. 7 But he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, becoming as human beings are; and being in every way like a human being, 8 he was humbler yet, even to accepting death, death on a cross. 9 And for this God raised him high, and gave him the name which is above all other names; 10 so that all beings in the heavens, on earth and in the underworld, should bend the knee at the name of Jesus 11 and that every tongue should acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord, to the glory of God the Father.