HOMILY FOR THE FEAST OF THE EXALTATION OF THE CROSS
THEME: By His Cross We Have Been Redeemed.
BY: Fr. Diotacious Chikontwe SMA
HOMILY FOR WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 14 2022
*READINGS OF THE DAY*
Numbers 21:4-9
Psalm 77:1-2,34-38
John 3:13-17
*LITURGICAL COLOUR*
RED
*INTRODUCTION*
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.
This is a special day were we honour the cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified. It is our belief as Catholics and Christians in general that on this very cross we were saved and our sins were forgiven.
Let us also remember that the cross represents Christ’s victory over death.
*FROM OUR FIRST READING*
In our first reading of today we are presented with the story of what happened when the Israelites rebelled against God in the desert, we heard about the bronze serpent of Moses which was crafted to help the Israelites. At that time, these people disobeyed God such that the Lord sent fiery serpents to strike at them as punishment for their sins, disobedience and wickedness. Many died from those fiery serpents and their bites, and the people begged the Lord for forgiveness and mercy. It was then that the Lord told Moses to craft that bronze serpent as a sign of God’s salvation and mercy, and all those who saw that bronze serpent after being bitten did not perish.
*IS THE FEAST OF TODAY SAME WITH GOOD FRIDAY ?*
Many people will mistake this feast with Good Friday since on that day too we venerate the Cross especially during the celebration.
Dear brethren, today’s feast of the exaltation or triumph of the Holy Cross is not like Good Friday. Because the focus on todays feast is not so much on the sufferings of Jesus. Rather, we celebrate what the gospel reading refers to as the lifting up of the Son of Man.
*CONCLUSION*
Today’s feast celebrates the good news that God turned the tragedy of Calvary into a triumph for us all. Through the cross, God’s life-giving love and mercy was embracing us all. Today’s feast also reminds us that in our own personal experiences of Calvary, the Lord is present with us in a loving and merciful way, working on our behalf to bring new life out of our suffering and dying.
Therefore, this instrument of torture, designed to degrade the worst of criminals, became the life-giving tree that reversed Adam’s Original Sin when he ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden.
Happy Feast of the exaltation of the cross.