Scripture for Everyday Life                                     Exaltation of the Holy Cross      Today we celebrate the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.  The very name of this feast elicits the questions, "Why do bad things happen to good people?" and "What do we learn from suffering?"  Down through the history of mankind, humans have struggled with the mystery of suffering.  As Christians, our belief is that Jesus' suffering on the cross resulted in redemption from our sins and won for us eternal life.       By meditating on the cross, we hope to gain insight and understanding of our Father's love and mercy for us.  To look upon the cross is to respond to the role suffering plays in our lives and to accept the message of healing and reconciliation that it brings.       The theme for today is: We are to glory in the cross; it is our salvation-salvation for all humanity won by the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross. First Reading: Numbers 21:4b-9       In our first reading from Numbers, we find the ancient Hebrew people led by Moses to be tired and hungry from their passage into the desert.  They complain to Moses about their aimless wandering and their lack of food and water.  The desert is full of snakes and the people are suffering from snake bites.  Some have died as a result of being bitten.  Slowly, the Israelites realize that their disgruntled nature has led them to sin against God.  They come to Moses and ask him to intervene with God on their behalf.         Moses responds by making a bronze serpent as instructed by the Lord, and mounts it on a pole.  All who look upon it are healed. (In ancient times, the snake was seen as a sign of fertility and rebirth; so if a person survived a snakebite, it was seen as a sign of divine intervention.)  It is to this particular passage (Numbers 21:9) that Jesus refers to in today's Gospel reading from John.        Just as the Israelites who looked upon the serpent that was hoisted up by Moses were spared from a physical death, so too are those- who look to Jesus and believe in him- spared from a spiritual death. Second Reading: Philippians 2:6-11       Today's second reading is a perfect example of Paul's theology concerning the passion and death of Jesus.  Jesus, through the humiliation of the cross, offers himself completely and wins salvation for us.  Christ emptied himself for the sake of our salvation.       Paul wrote this letter to his community at Philippi to illustrate the ideal of total love that should characterize the followers of Jesus.  Paul is telling the community that they are to reflect that same kind of selfless love and humility towards one another.  Jesus divested himself of divine privileges and took on the form of a slave, Paul tells us.  He knew rejection, physical and verbal abuse, insults- the same maladies that plague humankind today.  Yet he still walked the path of total obedience to his Father to the point of death on a cross.       We are called to practice that same humility and self-denial that Christ demonstrated and to bear the burdens that life throws us, so that we, too, may enjoy unending eternal joy with the Father in heaven.  It is not an easy path to follow, but it is the only path that leads to eternal life.  Gospel: John 3:13-17       Jesus' being lifted up on the cross revealed his glory.  The condemnation of one man led to the salvation of all mankind.  In today's Gospel, Jesus compares himself to the lifting up of the bronze serpent that we read about in today's first reading.  Just as Moses' bronze serpent brought healing from a source of deadly poison, so does the crucified Christ offer redemption from the source of spiritual poison, which is sin.  The cross offers salvation to all who believe in Christ.       As the evangelist John often does, he offers a double meaning to certain words, such as the word "gave."  That God "gave" us his only son refers not only to the loving gesture whereby God sent his son to live with us, but also points to the sacrifice of the cross.  Those who believe in the Son and accept the Father's love will be saved.  However, those who reject the Son and thereby the Father's love, will be condemned- or rather, they condemn themselves.  The words "lifted up" also hold a double meaning in John.  Jesus was not only lifted up on the cross, but was also lifted up in the Resurrection, wherein he revelead his glory.       God does not want to lose any of his children; and we are all his children, for he is the Lord of all creation.  He does not desire to condemn the world that he created.  That is not why he sent his only son into the world that he created.  Jesus offered his life up for us that we might live.  He set the example for us through his humility, his patience, his 'humble servant' attitude and his desire to continue forward towards his death on the cross, despite the humiliation and ridicule that it would bring.       The Cross offers us hope in time of trials which no one can escape.  It offers us encouragement to move forward, when all seems lost.  Most of all it offers us eternal life where there will be no more suffering, pain, or death.  This is our belief and our consolation, for the God of all creation awaits us with loving arms, just as he embraced his only son at his resurrection.  The Father must have greeted him with words, "Well done, my beloved Son."  And that is the kind of greeting that we can anticipate if we just "hang in there" and move forward in faith despite all the obstacles.  "We adore you, O Christ and we bless you, because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world." -Sunday, September 14, 2008