14 September 2026 –The Feast of 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
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.
