Sunday 14 September 2025 –The Exaltation of the Holy Cross
Mass Readings:
Num 21:4-9 Ps 78 Phil 2:6-11
Jn 3:13-17
Key Verse to Meditate:
And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of
Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life (Jn 3:14-15).
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Today, the Church
celebrates the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. In harmony with this
theme, the first reading speaks of the lifting up of the bronze serpent in the
desert, while in the Gospel Jesus says: “And just as Moses lifted up the
serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up” (Jn 3:14).
The central message of today’s Liturgy of the Word is this: the Cross is at the
heart of our faith. We do not exalt suffering—suffering in itself is never
pleasing to God. Rather, we exalt the Cross because it is the supreme sign of
God’s love for us. To exalt the Cross is to exalt love.
St. John tells us that
Jesus, lifted up on the Cross, draws all people to Himself. This is why the
Cross must be exalted: it is the instrument of salvation. The Cross is our
Christian badge, our life, and our hope—it speaks not only of death but also of
the Resurrection of Jesus. Historically, this feast recalls the discovery of
the site of Christ’s crucifixion in Jerusalem by Saint Helena, mother of
Emperor Constantine. In the Eastern Church, this feast is celebrated with the
same solemnity as Easter itself.
The First Reading
The first reading from the
Book of Numbers speaks of Moses interceding with God on behalf of the
Israelites, who had spoken against Him in the wilderness. The people were dying
from the bites of poisonous serpents. God instructed Moses to erect a pole and
place upon it the image of a bronze serpent, so that whoever looked at it would
be healed. This foreshadows the exaltation of the Cross, upon which Jesus shed
His blood to give us life and salvation.
We too are bitten by the
serpent of sin and disobedience. But Jesus, lifted up on the Cross, gives life
to all who are wounded by sin: “And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in
the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in
him may have eternal life” (Jn 3:14–15). This theme of Jesus gathering all
people to Himself through His death on the Cross reappears in John’s Gospel: “And
I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” (Jn
12:32).
The Second Reading
The reason and the theology
behind the exaltation of the Holy Cross are beautifully explained by St. Paul
in his Letter to the Philippians. Jesus humbled Himself on the Cross. It was a
humiliating death, yet Jesus chose to do the Father’s will: “Christ Jesus,
who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as
something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross” (Phil
2:5–8).
In his First Letter to the
Corinthians, St. Paul further explains that the Cross of Christ is the very
power of God for salvation: “For the message about the cross is foolishness
to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of
God... For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ
crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those
who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of
God” (1 Cor 1:18, 22–24).
The Gospel Reading
The Gospel presents the
conversation between Nicodemus and Jesus, in which Jesus recalls the episode
from the Book of Numbers. When the Israelites rebelled against God and
Moses—complaining about the lack of food despite receiving manna daily—God
allowed fiery serpents to afflict them. Many were bitten and died. Realizing
their sin, they repented and asked Moses to intercede.
In response, God instructed
Moses to make a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. All who looked upon it in
faith were healed and saved. A symbol of death, terror, and suffering was
transformed by God into a sign of life.
In the same way, Jesus
explains to Nicodemus that the Cross—normally a symbol of fear, shame, and
death—would become the ultimate sign of salvation. Though condemned by the
chief priests, elders, and scribes, the Cross would be transformed into the
very source of life.
It is on the Cross that we
encounter the highest manifestation of God’s love. Just as the bronze serpent
was lifted high in the desert, so too was Christ lifted high on the Cross. And
just as those who looked upon the serpent in faith were healed, so now all who
look upon Christ Jesus with faith are saved.
The Cross is Life, and Life
is the Cross
On the Cross, we see the
fullest revelation of God’s love (Jn 3:16–17). The Cross is not merely a
reminder of pain—it is the sign of God’s total self-giving, the instrument of
our redemption, and the banner of our hope.
The Cross of Jesus Christ
is the Cross of redemption. On the Cross, the powerful God chose to become
powerless, a helpless victim of suffering and death. Though a paradox and a
sign of contradiction, the Cross is equally a sign of hope and transformation.
The Crucifix is also a sign of the self-giving to which we are called. Each of
us must embrace the Cross with Christ, offering ourselves for others. In dying
with Him, our sins are atoned for, and we share in the victory of His
Resurrection.
Jesus the New Adam
The disobedience of the
first Adam cost humanity its intimacy with God. But Jesus, the new Adam,
through His obedience unto death on the Cross, restored our relationship with
God. Fully human and fully divine, Jesus entered into the depths of human suffering.
Because He shared in our humanity, we can now share in His divinity.
The only act greater than
the Incarnation was the redeeming death of Jesus on the Cross, where sin and
death were destroyed by His blood. The redemption of the world through the
Cross is the supreme act of love and mercy—a mystery we can never fully grasp.
The Redemption of Christ on
the Cross
Redemption took place on
the Cross, where Jesus defeated the powers of sin and death and opened the way
to God. By His death and resurrection, we have been freed from the slavery of
sin and given a new beginning.
The Cross of Golgotha
overshadows our lives as a permanent sign of God’s abiding love. One message of
the Cross is clear: God does not stand apart from our suffering. He is not
unmoved by the pain of His children. Rather, He embraces that pain, suffers with
us, and transforms it through love.
The Merciful Heart of
Christ
God sent His Son to be
lifted up on the Cross in agony, so that all who are wounded by sin and death
may find life in abundance (Jn 10:10). From the merciful heart of Christ
hanging on the Cross flows salvation: “And just as Moses lifted up the
serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever
believes in him may have eternal life” (Jn 3:14–15). “For God so loved
the world that he gave his only Son” (Jn 3:16). The Cross, once a sign of
pain and death, has become the sign of love, total self-giving, and redemption
for the world.
Points for Personal
Reflection
God is on the Cross : The Cross
is the firm ground where our faith stands when everything else fails. God’s
love for us could not be revealed in a greater way than through what He
accomplished on the Cross. Christ’s sacrifice on Calvary, followed by His
glorious Resurrection, forms the very foundation of the Christian faith.
As baptized Christians, we are invited to contemplate Christ crucified.
Standing at the foot of the Cross, we begin to understand the true meaning of
love, suffering, and self-denial. No religion, philosophy, or earthly wealth
can offer an answer as profound to life’s deepest questions as the two wooden
beams upon which our Saviour died for us.
The Cross of Christ
To follow Jesus daily necessarily involves embracing suffering and
carrying our cross. The One who calls us to deny ourselves, take up our cross,
and follow Him is the very One who gave His life on the Cross of Calvary for
you and me.
The death of Jesus on the Cross demonstrates to the world that the only
true strength, the only enduring hope, and the only real power capable of
transforming humanity is love. Not the power of miracles, not the wisdom of the
world, but the mystery of God’s love revealed in the scandal of the Cross has
brought salvation to all. As John R. W. Stott beautifully writes in The
Cross of Christ: “God does not love us because Christ died for us; Christ
died for us because God loved us.”
Two thousand years have passed, yet the death of Jesus on the Cross
remains the most remembered death in history. Once a humiliating instrument of
execution, the Cross has become the supreme symbol of God’s suffering love and
our ultimate hope.
- Do I
know the healing and transforming power of the Cross of Jesus Christ?
- Is
my love for God guided by truth, goodness, and mercy?
- Do I
love God above all else as the supreme good?
- Do I
know that on the Cross, I am loved and forgiven by God in Christ?
- Do I
recognize that the love of God, exalted on the Cross, is my hope and
salvation?
As we celebrate the Feast of the Exaltation of the
Holy Cross, let us remember that God not only redeemed us in Christ but also
filled us with His Spirit, that we may share in His glory.
“Keep your
eyes fixed on the outstretched arms of Christ crucified” - Pope Francis.
