Saturday, 13 September 2014
Sunday, September 14, 2014 - The Exaltation of the Cross - From the Cross to the Heavens
To read the texts click on the texts: Num 21:4-9;Phil 2:6-11; Jn 3:13-17
The Exaltation of the Cross is
one of the twelve great feasts in the yearly liturgical cycle. Because the
cross is at the heart and centre of all that we believe as Christians, the
Church celebrates the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, the triumph of the
cross of Christ over the power of sin and death. The feast usually occurs on a
week day. But when it falls on a Sunday as it does this year, it takes
precedence over the ordinary Sunday liturgy. And so this feast provides us with
another opportunity to reflect on the central mystery of our faith: that the
one who was lifted up on the cross in crucifixion has triumphed over the power
of sin and death, because God highly exalted him.
This feast commemorates two
historical events: first, the finding of what was considered the Cross of
Christ in the year 326 by the mother of Constantine the Great, St Helen, and
second, its recovery from Persia in 628.
A story is told of Emperor Heraclius,
who, in the year 628, after making peace with the Persians, carried what was
considered the Cross on which Jesus hung, back to Jerusalem on his shoulders.
He was clothed with costly garments and with ornaments of precious stones. But
at the entrance to Mount Calvary a strange incident occurred. Try as hard as he
would, he could not go forward. Zacharias, the Bishop of Jerusalem, then said
to the astonished monarch: “Consider, O Emperor, that with these triumphal
ornaments you are far from resembling Jesus carrying his Cross.” The Emperor
then put on a penitential garb and continued the journey and carried the Cross
into the church of Holy Wisdom where it was triumphantly exalted. It was then
resolved that the Feast of the Triumph or exaltation of the Cross be celebrated
by the Church in all parts of the world.
The Cross – because of what it
represents – is the most potent and universal symbol of the Christian faith. It
is a constant reminder of Christ’s ultimate triumph, his victory over sin and
death through his suffering and dying on the Cross. The cross, once a tool of
death, has become a means to life, an instrument of our salvation; it gives
strength to resist temptation, it gives hope to seek new life and it dispels
fear and darkness.
As Christians, we exalt the Cross
of Christ as the instrument of our salvation. Adoration of the Cross is, thus,
adoration of Jesus Christ, the Son of God who became man, who suffered and died
on the Cross for our redemption from sin and death. The cross is a symbolic
summary of the Passion, Crucifixion, Death and Resurrection of Christ.
In the first reading of today, we
read of how Moses lifted up the bronze serpent in order to heal and bring
wholeness to a broken people. This was God’s way of showing the people that He
was primarily a God who wanted to save and redeem and not condemn and destroy.
The evangelist John interpreted this lifting of the bronze serpent by Moses as
a foreshadowing of the salvation through Jesus when he was lifted up on the
Cross. The triumph of the Cross is the triumph of Jesus Christ whose love for
us and obedience to his Father climaxed with his death on the cross. The deeper
meaning of the Cross is presented in The Christological hymn in today’s second
reading from the Letter of Paul to the Philippians. Jesus emptied himself
completely. He died making a willing statement of love, filling the world with
the love he had for his Father and his Father had for him. We are saved from
the horrors of evil, from meaningless lives due to the love of the Lord.
Because Jesus died on a cross for us we are able to proclaim to the world:
Jesus is Lord. His love made this possible. When we venerate and adore the
cross, we are saying: ‘Jesus is the Lord of our lives’.
To the world this act of
surrender on the cross was an act of utter humiliation and subjugation and the
height of folly. But what the world calls wisdom, God calls foolishness, and
what the world calls strength God calls weakness. Therefore God highly exalted
the Crucified on by raising him from the dead. In the weakness and foolishness
of the cross we see the wisdom and power of God: Christ crucified. In him and
his Cross, surrender becomes power, waste becomes gain and death and defeat
become victory and new life.
The cross is at the centre of our
lives every time we face sickness and death, in frailty and old age, when we
feel utterly alone and abandoned, every time we are tempted to give in and give
up. It keeps reminding us that only
when we embrace the cross in the midst of suffering and abandonment can we
understand the power of the resurrection.
Friday, 12 September 2014
Saturday, September 13, 2014 - Will your faith show in action today? How?
To read the texts click on the texts:1 Cor 10:14-22; Lk 6:43-49
In the last part of the Sermon on The Plain, the Lucan Jesus
uses the metaphor of a tree and its fruit, and through it exhorts the listeners
not merely “to say”, but rather “to do”.
The nature of a tree is known by
the fruit it produces, and each tree produces a different kind of fruit. If a
person’s heart is good, then what he/she produces will also be good, whereas if
a person’s heart is evil, then the deeds of that person will also be evil.
Luke concludes his sermon with an exhortation to do what the
Lord says rather then merely to call him Lord. There is no point in merely
saying “I believe” if we are not going to show that belief in action.
Thursday, 11 September 2014
Friday, September 12, 2014 - Did you know that when you point a finger at someone, there are three fingers pointing back at you?
To read the texts click on the texts:1 Cor 9:16-19,22-27; Lk 6,:39-42
The parable that begins this section is a rhetorical question.
The blind who need someone else to lead them surely cannot lead another who is
blind. What is worse is that if this is attempted both persons will be in
trouble. This is why disciples who intend to lead others must first learn to be
like the master. If they attempt to lead others without first learning from the
master, their teaching will be erroneous.
The second parable reinforces the point made in 6:37-38 about
not judging or condemning.
Before one can point to the faults of others,
introspection is called for. One must realise that often one might be guilty of
greater misdeeds than the person to whom one is pointing.
Wednesday, 10 September 2014
Thursday, September 11, 2014 - How often have you done something for someone else without any expectation whatever? Will you do something like this today?
To read the texts click on the texts:1 Cor 8:1-7,11-13; Lk 6:27-38
After pronouncing the beatitudes and woes, the Lucan Jesus goes on to
speak of love of enemies. The disciples are called to be actors rather than
reactors. They are to love their enemies and bless and pray for those who are
against them.
How this is to be done practically is then illustrated. Disciples
are to offer no resistance to the violent and are to be generous in their
giving expecting nothing in return.
The Golden rule is stated positively here
and by placing it in this context, Luke probably intends that this is how the
disciples must respond to those who are against them.
Our relationships
generally are based on barter exchange. If someone does good to me then I will
be good to that person in turn. However, the Lucan Jesus calls his disciples to
go beyond and to build relationships based on unconditional love. The last two
verses of this section deal with not judging and not condemning. These are
followed by two positive prescriptions to forgive and give freely without
measure.
Tuesday, 9 September 2014
Wednesday, September 10, 2014 - Blessed Francisco Garate SJ (1857-1929) - Humility is a funny thing, once you think you’ve got it, you’ve lost it”? Are you humble?
To read the texts click on the texts: Eph6:10-18; Lk 14:1.7-11
Br
Francisco Gárate was born on 3rd February 1857 and died on 9th September 1929
at the age of 72. The late General of the Society of Jesus Fr. Pedro Arrupe
knew him personally and on the 50th Anniversary of Gárate’s death had this to
say about him: “he was “a man of God”; he did ordinary things extraordinarily
well; and he was “Courtesy” personified.”
He joined
the Society of Jesus in 1874, served as infirmarian in a boarding school for
ten years, and then for forty-one uninterrupted years as the doorkeeper at the
Jesuit University of Deusto in Bilbao, Spain. His day would begin at 5 am when
he would serve at the holy Eucharist and ended when he closed the main door to
the College however late that might be.
“The holy
life led by Brother Gárate is as relevant now as it was in the 1920s. It comes
down to living one’s deepest religious convictions, to bring them to bear on
the sanctification of one’s daily life, to succeed in determining one’s
relations and contacts with others by the great commandment of love. That is
the great lesson taught by Brother Gárate during his 41 years as doorkeeper. Is
there anything more evangelical? Is there anything more needed today?”
Brother
Gárate was beatified by Pope Paul II on October 6, 1985.
The Gospel
text chosen for the feast is from the Gospel of Luke. It includes 14:1, which
speaks of a Sabbath setting, and so this text must be seen in that light. The
text is set in the context of a meal, and contains instructions on behaviour to
guests who were invited. Jesus advocates what may be termed as practical
humility, with words from Proverbs 25:6-7. It must be noticed that when the
host asks the guest to move down from the place of honour, no term of address,
respect or affection is used, whereas when the host invites the guest to move up,
the guest is addressed as “friend”. The future tense that is used in 14:11
(“will be humbled”, “will be exalted”) points beyond the immediate situation to
the reversal of values that is characteristic of the economy of God’s kingdom.
When one realises that God accepts one unconditionally, the result is practical
humility.
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