Greeting
Praise to God our Father, who loved us so much that he gave us his only Son, so that all who believe in him may have eternal life. May Jesus fill us with his life and be with you always. R/ And also with you.
Introduction
Crosses are always hard to carry and we are tempted to
grumble and rebel in the pains and trials of life. But Jesus went ahead of us:
he bore the cross for us and died on it, then he rose from the dead. God is
stronger than death, and the foolishness and scandal of the cross has saved us
from sin and death. The cross was Jesus' way to victory. For every disciple of
Christ, it is the way to life and resurrection. Let us join Jesus in this
Eucharist and celebrate with him the sacrifice of the cross.
Penitential Act
How do we take crosses? Do we bear them with Christ? Is the
Lord's cross to us a scandal or our hope and salvation? Let us examine
ourselves before the Lord. (PAUSE)
Lord, you saved us by your cross, yet crosses embarrass us,
yours and ours. We easily revolt against them. Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have
mercy.
Jesus Christ, you humbled yourself to bring us compassion
and pardon, yet we seek honors and success. Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have
mercy.
Lord, the cross was your way to glory and we give a place of
honor to your cross in our homes but not in our lives. Lord, have mercy. R/
Lord, have mercy.
Have mercy on us, Lord, forgive us again and again; help us
to bear our crosses with faith and love and lead us to everlasting life. R/
Amen.
Opening Prayer Let us pray to God that we may learn to
bear our cross with his Son (PAUSE)
Lord, God of loyalty, we are constantly under the threat of
contesting our dependence on you and of blaming you for the evil in the world. Lord
God, make us see the redeeming value of suffering. Give us the mentality of
Jesus Christ: make us ready to be totally Christian, totally committed to you
and to people, even at the cost of suffering. Give us the strength to follow
all the way your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen. Commentary
The seraph was mounted on a pole and the people were told to
look at it-to look at what had bitten them. And they were healed. This bronze
serpent is seen as an image of Jesus on the Cross. But Jesus went to the cross,
under the burden of the law and of people's hatred. He took it upon himself to
live the way of God truthfully and to die clinging to God and being obedient to
God's will, even if that meant being rejected and killed. Jesus was the
fullness of God, God in our flesh and blood, and he humbled himself to come and
live with us as a human being, dying with us, even dying on a cross as the
least of us. Somehow this mystery of the incarnation of God is what we are to
become-we, our flesh and blood in Jesus, are to become the Body of Christ given
in love to the Father in the power of the Spirit. Our humanness is to become
the holiness of God. This is our salvation. We are loved and given the very
life of God in Jesus. Does it feel like Lent? Monastic Lent began on this day
and the liturgical calendar reflects this still. It is time to look upon our
God, upon the cross, and kiss the symbol of our life and recognize that we are
made in the sign of the cross.
Alternative
The feast of the Triumph of the Cross marks the dedication
of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in 335 CE. On this feast, we are called
upon to meditate on the salvific mystery of the Cross. The Israelites who were
bitten by poisonous snakes looked up to the metal image of the fiery serpent on
the standard and lived. Similarly, anyone bitten by the poisonous snakes of
sin, who looks up to the living Christ on the Cross, shall not die, but live.
It is God’s will that everyone shall be saved. But we have the freedom of
choice to look toward the Cross or away from it. The choice is ours; so are the
consequences. Take a few minutes today to look at a cross and meditate on it.
Keep gazing. What do you find there? Who is there? What happens to you as you
keep gazing?
Intercessions
God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son to
save us and bring us life by his death and resurrection. Let us pray to Jesus
for all who suffer and let us say: R/ Lord, save us by your cross. - For those whose life lacks direction, that
they may discover Christ the way, let us pray: R/ Lord, save us by your cross. -
For those whose ideals have faded, that they may see and accept the novelty of
life and constantly renew themselves, let us pray: R/ Lord, save us by your
cross. - For the perennial losers of their personal struggles against the
forces of evil, that they may trust in Christ, whose grace is mightier than sin
and death, let us pray: R/ Lord, save us by your cross. - For those who are
lonely, deserted, or shut up within themselves, that they may accept the
companionship of Christ and through him open themselves to others, let us pray:
R/ Lord, save us by your cross. - For all of us, that we may learn from our
Lord himself to bear our crosses in patience and humility, that in some way
they may bring life to us and to whoever is tired and discouraged, let us pray:
R/ Lord, save us by your cross. - For this community, that with Jesus our
Savior it may be poor and serving and open to all people and all needs, let us
pray: R/ Lord, save us by your cross. Lord
Jesus Christ, your cross remains a mystery to us, as does all pain and want. We
rely on your word and example that your cross is a way to joy and freedom. Turn
our crosses into bearers of happiness and life, now and forever. R/ Amen.
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord God, with this bread and this wine we celebrate the
saving death of your Son. In moments when suffering strikes and when we find it
hard to bear, give us the strength, Lord God, not to murmur and to contest but
to accept that it is your way to glory, even if we do not understand fully. We
ask you for this courage through Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
Introduction to the Eucharistic Prayer
Remember that in this and every Eucharist we celebrate the
sacrifice of the cross by which Jesus brought us forgiveness and life. Let us
thank the Father for it and offer ourselves with Jesus our Lord, that we may
overcome evil with him.
Introduction to the Lord's Prayer
Grateful for his saving love, we pray to our Father in
heaven in the words of Jesus, our Savior: R/ Our Father...
Deliver Us
Deliver us, Lord, from every evil and forgive us the sins which
caused your Son's death on the cross. Help us to join our crosses to his; give
us courage and patience in life, as we wait in joyful hope for the coming of
our Savior Jesus Christ. R/ For the kingdom...
Invitation to Communion
This is the Lamb of God who died on the cross to take our
sins away. Happy are we to be invited to eat his bread of strength. R/ Lord, 1
am not worthy...
Prayer after Communion
God, our Lord and Father, we know that you have made us for
joy and happiness, yet humiliation and death was the price which your Son had
to pay. Let us never be ashamed of his cross or proclaim a painless
Christianity, for we trust you when you call us to bear witness to you the way
you want us to, through Jesus Christ, your Son and Lord. R/ Amen.
Blessing
We ourselves have been marked with the sign of the cross as
people saved by a serving Lord. On account of the cross, we have to learn to
forgive, to bear one another's burdens and to accept the realities of life as
people of hope and trust, with the blessing of almighty God, the Father, and
the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.
Let us go in the peace of Christ. R/ Thanks be to God.
