Rest for the Weary Soul

Greetings on this the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
Readings: Nm 21:4b-9; PS 78:1bc-2, 34-35, 36-37, 38; Phil 2:6-11; Jn 3:13-17
Notes: I cannot speak for everyone but for me, when I am worn out I make my biggest mistakes. Mistakes in muscle movement, choice of words, reactions to stimulus, and decisions on actions to take in the moment. I can fall, I can harm, I can do the very things I warn others about: engage in Advantage, Alliance and Acquisition.

This is the cross we bear, no? The decision?

Circumstances come. Decisions we control.

Thankfully the solution is of divine origin!

Today we venerate the cross but it was not always so. The cruelty of the cross (worldwide) was not lost on so many who saw their own die this way. It takes reflection to realize the Lord transformed this horrible instrument of death into an instrument of life, a place of rest for the weary soul.

Antiphons of the Liturgy today

Ant 1: To destroy the power of hell Christ died upon the cross; clothed in strength and glory, he triumphed over death.
Ant 2: The Lord hung upon the cross to wash away our sins in his own blood. How splendid is that blessed cross.
Ant 3: How radiant is that precious cross which brought our salvation. In the cross we are victorious, through the cross we shall reign, by the cross all evil is destroyed, alleluia.

O Cross of Christ, Immortal Tree

O Cross of Christ immortal tree
On Which our Savior died.
The wood is sheltered by your arms
That bore the crucified.
From biter death and barren wood
The treee of life is made;
Its branches bear unfailing fruit
And leaves that never fade.

O faithful Cross, you stand unmoved
While ages run their cours;
Foundation of the universe,
Creation’s binding force.

Give glory to the risen Christ
And to his Cross give praise,
The sign of God’s unfamthomed love,
The hope of all our days.

Stanbrook Abbey Hymnal
Benedictine Nuns of Stanbrook Abby.

First reading
With their patience worn out by the journey,
the people complained against God and Moses,
“Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in this desert,
where there is no food or water?
We are disgusted with this wretched food!”

The LORD said to Moses,
“Make a saraph and mount it on a pole,
and if any who have been bitten look at it, they will live.”
Moses accordingly made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole,
and whenever anyone who had been bitten by a serpent
looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.

Responsorial Psalm
Do not forget the works of the Lord!

I will open my mouth in a parable,
I will utter mysteries from of old.

(note: prophecy fulfilled. This is why I speak to them in parables, because ‘they look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand (Matt 13:13).

Second reading
The second reading is Saint Paul quoting a verse from an early hymn of the church.

Rather, he emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
coming in human likeness;
and found human in appearance,
he humbled himself,
becoming obedient to death,
even death on a cross.

Alleluia Verse
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you,
because by your Cross you have redeemed the world.

Gospel Portion
Jesus said to Nicodemus:
“No one has gone up to heaven
except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man.
And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert,
so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”

For 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.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,
but that the world might be saved through him.

Peace be with you,
Deacon Gerry