Reflection for Sunday 14th September, 2025

The Exaltation of the Holy Cross - Feast

Exaltation of the Holy Cross (Philippians 2:6-11 & John 3:13-17)

Today we replace the usual Sunday Readings with the celebration of the Exaltation or Triumph of the Holy Cross. A celebration of God’s love and mercy.
Let us reflect on today’s Second Reading, Philippians 2:6–11. Paul expressed his belief that Jesus Christ was true God and true man … divine and human.

Although Jesus remained divine, for our sake he emptied himself. For our sake he became our servant, even our slave. Not only did he accept death but it was death on a cross which was the penalty for a criminal. It was regarded as a cursed way to die. “Cursed be everyone who hangs upon a tree.” (Gal 3:13). But from this lowest condition, God the Father raised him high. The resurrection defeated what seemed to be Satan’s victory.

“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.”

Jesus and Nicodemus

Now let us move on to today’s Gospel (John 3:13-17). Nicodemus, a leading member of the Jewish Council, was intrigued by what he heard about Jesus. He came in the secrecy of night to dialogue with Jesus. Jesus knew that Nicodemus would be familiar with the story of Moses and the serpents. A plague of poisonous snakes was causing many deaths. The people pleaded with Moses to pray to God. Moses was instructed to fashion a bronze serpent and raise it on a standard. To their amazement, people were healed when they looked up at the serpent.
For years this story puzzled me because the Commandments condemned the worship of false gods and images. However, one of our Capuchin missionaries in Zambia explained it to me. Snakes cast off their outward shell and show a beautiful new skin. In this way they are a symbol of new life after death. Perhaps you remember when the sign outside a pharmacy was not a green cross but a snake coiled around a drinking vessel.
Jesus said to Nicodemus: “The Son of Man must be lifted up as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” The death of Jesus would become the door to eternal life. The cursed cross is now seen as the tree of salvation.
And it all began with the love and mercy of God. “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.”

Solidarity with all who suffer

Because of his love for all who are suffering, Jesus entered solidarity with all kinds of suffering.
He suffered false accusations and an unjust trial. People who are victims of injustice, lies, and false rumours can look at Jesus on the cross as one who knows their predicament.
Jesus suffered physical pain in many ways … scourged by whips, crowned with thorns, falling under the heavy cross, nailed through hands and feet. Through the loss of blood, he suffered an intense thirst.
People who have been betrayed in love can recall how Judas sold Jesus with the coldest kiss in history.
He suffered family pain as he saw his mother at the foot of the cross.
According to Matthew and Mark, he even suffered spiritual darkness: “God, my God, why have you forsaken me.”
Ours were the sufferings he bore, ours the sorrows he carried.
There was a darkness over the land. It seemed to all that Satan had been victorious. But Easter Sunday changed the story.
Today we are celebrating the triumph/exaltation of the Holy Cross.
“Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, who leads us in our faith and brings it to perfection: for the sake of the joy which lay ahead of him, he endured the cross, disregarding the shame of it, and has taken his seat at the right of God’s throne.” (Hebrews 12: 2-3)
Dying you destroyed our death, rising you restored our life, Lord Jesus, come in glory.