THE EXALTATION OF THE HOLY CROSS - 2023

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

We adore you, O Christ,
and we bless you;
because by your cross
you have redeemed the world.

NUMBERS 21:4-9 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Just as the people in the wilderness lost patience as they journeyed to the promised land, how often I too lose my patience. I am irritable, I complain and grumble and I am lacking in charity, and as a result, I sin. At the slightest obstacle, as soon as things are not going my way, when I feel the weight of the cross getting heavier, I chafe and I become out of sorts with those around me. I forget completely all Your past blessings which You showered abundantly on me and my family and I lose hope in Your promises.  

When I sin and delay in acknowledging my faults and failings and beg for Your pardon and forgiveness, when I fail to repent and delay going to Confession I lose 

my peace and serenity of soul. It is only when I come to my senses, wisdom finally dawns that I realize that apart from You I am nothing and can do nothing.

I thank the Church for instituting this feast of the Exaltation of Your Holy Cross - it serves as a reminder that each of us is granted the privilege to experience in a small measure what You endured for my salvation and for the salvation of the world. Moses interceded for the people and God heard him. Not only are You the One Mediator between God and us, but we are so blessed to also ask for the intercession of Your Mother and ours, the Mediatrix of all graces. It is Your good pleasure to channel all the treasures of riches and mercy through her to her children whom You entrusted to her as she stood at the foot of Your Cross.

Not only Mama Mary but we have all the angels and saints, the Holy Souls in purgatory, as well as all our brothers and sisters to whom we can turn to confidently and ask for their intercession on our behalf. 

God instructed Moses: ‘Make a fiery serpent and put it on a standard. If anyone is bitten and looks at it, he shall live.’ So Moses fashioned a bronze serpent which he put on a standard, and if anyone was bitten by a serpent, he looked at the bronze serpent and lived.

To us O Lord we are given the Cross - there is no other way for us to receive a share in Your Crown apart from it. Keep our gaze fixed on You, Beloved, and as we contemplate the price that was paid for our salvation, and the debt we owe You, a debt that we can never repay. We receive healing and we are made whole once more by the power of the Cross which was once considered an instrument of shame and You exalted the Cross on which You crucified and bled and died so no one would perish and die in their sin. Thank You, Lord.

PSALM 77(78):1-2,34-38 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Grant me the soul of a disciple so I may always say 'yes' to all that You desire of me.

Give heed, my people, to my teaching;

turn your ear to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth in a parable
and reveal hidden lessons of the past.

When he slew them then they would seek him,

return and seek him in earnest.
They would remember that God was their rock,
God the Most High their redeemer.

But the words they spoke were mere flattery;

they lied to him with their lips.
For their hearts were not truly with him;
they were not faithful to his covenant.

Yet he who is full of compassion

forgave them their sin and spared them.
So often he held back his anger
when he might have stirred up his rage.

Never forget the deeds of the Lord.

JOHN 3:13-17 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Our consolation is great indeed O Lord, as today we contemplate the words You spoke to Nicodemus and chosen for our reflection in the Gospel reading today as the Church celebrates the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on which You paid the price for the salvation of the world.

Only God could do the impossible, the unimaginable, and the unthinkable by using an instrument of torture, degradation, and shame and transform it into the greatest sign that would shake the world to its very foundation and destroy the stranglehold that the world, the flesh, the devil has over the people of God. Death has lost its sting because of the victory and triumph that You won for us through Your total self-abnegation on the Cross of shame and death. 

These words that You spoke to Nicodemus are not only the most quoted in Scripture but they are also the most consoling, they are also addressed to all people of goodwill everywhere and in every age:

Jesus said to Nicodemus:

‘Yes, God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost
but may have eternal life.
For God sent his Son into the world
not to condemn the world,
but so that through him the world might be saved.’

Thank You, Heavenly Father for sending Your Son into the world to save and redeem us, thank You Holy Spirit the bond of love between Father and Son that made it possible for Jesus to say, "Not as I will but as You will." Above all Beloved, Jesus thank You for saying Yes. Take up the whole world into that eternal Yes that You said to the Father so we too may always do what is pleasing in His sight.