'Tis the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.
O Lord, grant me the courage to take up my cross & follow You. Make me understand that it is through the Cross that I learn how to die with You, so that I may also rise with You.Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
The Book of Numbers, chapter twenty-one, verses four(b) thru nine;
Psalm Seventy-eight (R/. cf. seven[b]), verses one(b/c) & two, thirty-four & thirty-five, thirty-six & thirty-seven, & thirty-eight;
The Letter to the Philippians, chapter two, verses six thru eleven;
The Gospel according to John, chapter three, verses thirteen thru seventeen.
Commentary: Festal Readings.
Gospel reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):
Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus is speaking to Nicodemus and tells him, “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.”Video reflection by Jem Sullivan, Ph.D. (U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops): Festal Reflection.
Why does the Son come? Is it because God is angry? Because God wants to lord it over us? Because God needs something? No, he comes purely out of love, out of God’s desire that we flourish: “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.”
It is not in order to work out his anger issues that the Father sends the Son, but that the justice of the world might be restored. Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s salvific intent, displayed throughout the Old Testament. He wanted to bring the divine life even into the darkest places. He wanted to hunt us down.
The Father, in short, sent the Son all the way into time, history, and the human condition. But then the Father sent him further, into our sin and dysfunction, and finally all the way down into hatred, violence, rejection, and death itself.
Video reflection by Doctor Tim Gray (Augustine Institute/Formed.org): Festal Reflection.
Audio reflection by Miss Joan Watson (St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology): Letters from Home.
"On this day when Catholics around the world celebrate the Triumph of the Cross, the Church invites us to look once again at the meaning of Christian discipleship. She invites us to understand the sacrifices it involves & place all our hope in our Crucified & Risen Savior."Saint Quote o' the Day
—Pope Saint John Paul II the Great (1920-2005, r. 1978-2005; feast: 22 October)
"If you find serenity & happiness, they may be jealous of you: Be happy anyway."Mother Teresa Quote o' the Day
—Saint Teresa of Calcutta, M.C. (1910-1997, feast: 5 September)
"Remember that you have been created for greater things. Never stoop lower than that ideal. Let nothing satisfy you but God."
—Saint Teresa of Calcutta, M.C. (1910-1997, feast: 5 September)
"Modern prophets say that our economics have failed us. No! It is not our economics which have failed; it is man who has failed—man who has forgotten God. Hence no manner of economic or political readjustment can possibly save our civilization; we can be saved only by a revonation of the inner man, only by a purging ofour hearts & souls; for only by seeking first the Kingdom of God & His Justice will all these other things be aded unto us. "
—Venerable Fulton Sheen (1895-1979)
No comments:
Post a Comment