Numbers
21:4-9 / John 8:21-30
In life, we will always have stress, which of course we do not welcome at all. More so when stress turns to distress, then we will get all flustered and frustrated.
In the 1st reading, we heard how the Israelites were in distress, but that was due to their own grumblings at God and the consequence was the scourge of the fiery serpents.
But out of this distress, arose the intercession of Moses which brought about healing for the people. For Jesus, His greatest moment of distress was when He was nailed to and lifted up on the cross. But it was also on the cross that He revealed His full identity as Saviour.
The cross was also His throne of glory. Whenever we sink into the depths of distress, or face trials and difficulties that wear us down, let us remember this.
That in times of great distress, God is closest to us in His full power to lift us up so that we can see His glory.
The times of distress are also the time in which God reveals His saving love for us.
That is somehow difficult to believe, just as it would seem strange that by looking at the image of a bronze serpent on a standard would bring about healing.
But as we look at Jesus being lifted up on the cross, then we will understand. Then we will believe.
Because we are looking at our Saviour who came to heal and forgive and save us.
Jesus warns the Pharisees: “Where
I am going, you cannot come.”
When Jesus said,
“Where I am going you cannot come,” the
Pharisees wondered if he was planning to take his own life. Rabbis held that
people who took their life went to the deepest part of the nether world. This
shows how terribly the Pharisees had misread Jesus and how far from the truth
they were. What Jesus actually meant was that he was returning to his Father in
heaven. Spiritual blindness is a terrible sin. It implies a deliberate closing of
one’s eyes to the truth. This seems to have been the situation of the
Pharisees. This is why Jesus told the Pharisees, “You will die in your sins.”
****
Do we ever tend to close our eyes to
truth because we are afraid of what we might see? “The eye does not see what
the mind is unwilling to look at.” Anonymous
****
In life, we will always have stress, which of course we do not welcome at all. More so when stress turns to distress, then we will get all flustered and frustrated.
In the 1st reading, we heard how the Israelites were in distress, but that was due to their own grumblings at God and the consequence was the scourge of the fiery serpents.
But out of this distress, arose the intercession of Moses which brought about healing for the people. For Jesus, His greatest moment of distress was when He was nailed to and lifted up on the cross. But it was also on the cross that He revealed His full identity as Saviour.
The cross was also His throne of glory. Whenever we sink into the depths of distress, or face trials and difficulties that wear us down, let us remember this.
That in times of great distress, God is closest to us in His full power to lift us up so that we can see His glory.
The times of distress are also the time in which God reveals His saving love for us.
That is somehow difficult to believe, just as it would seem strange that by looking at the image of a bronze serpent on a standard would bring about healing.
But as we look at Jesus being lifted up on the cross, then we will understand. Then we will believe.
Because we are looking at our Saviour who came to heal and forgive and save us.
***
LITURGY
Introduction
An incontestable
truth is that only faith saves. For the Jews wandering in the desert, faith in
God’s power – presented here in the form of a bronze serpent – will save the
rebellious people of God. The Pharisees have to accept Christ in faith if they
want to be saved. We too must look up to the cross with eyes of faith to become
free people and God’s sons and daughters. And we, the Church, must become the
sign of salvation raised above the na
Penitential Rite
Penitential Rite
-Like Israelites, we complained: “Why
have you brought us up from Egypt to die in this desert, here there is no food
or water? We are disgusted with this wretched food!", LHM
-Like Israelites, we also acknowledge our
sins: "We have sinned
in complaining against the LORD”, CHM
-Learning from
them, we shall look at your cross for our forgiveness and your mercy, LHM
Opening
Prayer
Our saving,
merciful God, wandering in our deserts of injustice and lack of love, we cry
out with fear or are stunned into silence, some into doubt or despair. Give us
enough trusting faith to look up to him who took our evil and doubts upon
himself, suffered for them on a cross, and rose from them, Jesus Christ, our
Savior and our Lord.
The people are
plagued with serpents because they again complain bitterly in the desert even
though they are cared for by God. For healing they are to look upon a bronze
serpent propped upon a pole and then they shall recover. This is the image that
Jesus will become-the Son of Man lifted up on crucifixion, nailed to a tree-and
yet, anyone who looks upon him in his agony and sees what hate, violence,
murder, sin, injustice, and evil can do, will be healed, forgiven, saved and
drawn into this life that Jesus shares with the Father. Jesus only tells the
world the truth he has heard from his Father, the Truthful One, and does only
what pleases God. Do we do only what pleases God, obeying with Jesus and
speaking the truth to the world? Do we stand with the Son of Man who will be
crucified?
General
Intercessions
–
For people who suffer much, that they may look up in faith and hope to Jesus on
the cross for strength and healing, we pray:
–
For a deep faith in the love of God, whose Son Jesus suffered for us on the
cross, we pray:
–
For all of us, that we may look up to the cross as a liberating sign for all
those who follow Jesus, we pray:
Prayer over
the Gifts
God our Father, we
celebrate the memorial of the passion and death of Jesus. May our encounter
with your Son save us from the evil in us and help us to rise above it, for we
know and believe that he is with us, and that he is your Son, one God with you
and with the Holy Spirit, now and forever.
Prayer after
Communion
Lord our God, you
have called your Church – that is us – to be your sign set in the sight of
nations. May our living faith in your Son inspire people to discover and
encounter him, that with him we may always do what pleases you and serve you. We
ask you this through Christ our Lord.
Homily
Prayer:
Loving Father, you
have heard our complaints, our impatience with all the restrictions imposed on
us due to the corona virus. Sometimes we become frightened when we read
and hear the stories of people across the world. O Lord Jesus, you lived in
poverty and suffered persecution for the cause of justice. You chose the Cross
as the path to glory to show us the way of salvation.
Guide our hearts
back to you. Help us
to think beyond our own wants and to desire only to do your will and the
restrictions imposed on us for our own good. Thank
you also for the many blessings you have brought in our lives these days due to
this situation and for the ways we
feel your presence. May we receive the word of the Gospel
joyfully and live by Your example as heirs and citizens of Your kingdom. In
Jesus’ name, Amen.
