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Sunday: Triumph of the Cross
September 14, 2008 Year: A
Num 21:4-9 OR Phil 2:6-11; Jn. 3:13-17
The Son of Man be lifted up.
First Reading...
"As they journeyed across the desert, the
Israelites left Mount Hor by the way to the Red Sea, to
go around the land of Edom; but the people became
impatient on the way. The people spoke against God and
against Moses, 'Why have you brought us up out of Egypt
to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no
water, and we detest this miserable food.'
Then the Lord sent poisonous serpents among the people,
and they bit the people, so that many Israelites died.
The people came to Moses and said, 'We have sinned by
speaking against the Lord and against you; pray to the
Lord to take away the serpents from us.' So Moses prayed
for the people.
And the Lord said to Moses, 'Make a poisonous serpent,
and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall
look at it and live.' So Moses made a serpent of bronze,
and put it upon a pole and whenever a serpent bit
someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronze
and live." [Num. 21:4-9]
Second Reading...
"Though Christ Jesus was in the form of
God, he did not regard equality with God as something to
be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a
slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in
human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to
the point of death - even death on a cross.
Therefore God highly exalted him and gave him the name
that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under
the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." [Phil.
2:6-11]
Gospel Reading...
"Jesus said to Nicodemus:
'No one has ascended into heaven except the one who
descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses
lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son
of Man be lifted up, that whoever 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 may not perish but may
ave eternal life.
Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to
condemn the world, but in order that the world might be
saved through him.'" [Jn. 3:13-17]
Today we reflect on the Triumph of the Cross.
The Feast of the Triumph of the Holy Cross on 14th
September commemorates the victory that Our Lord
accomplished through his death and resurrection. The
cross is a mark of great suffering and humiliation, but
it is a horrific symbol which we adore because through
it we have come to know the great love that Jesus has
for us, and through the wounds that it inflicted, we
have been healed. The Cross of Jesus Christ was found in
the fourth century by St. Helen, the mother of the
Emperor Constantine. According to the legend, a goodly
Jew named Judah was the only person who knew of the
location of the cross. Under pressure from St. Helen, he
revealed that it had been buried under the temple of
Venus which had been built by Emperor Hadrian at
Golgotha. As she found three crosses buried at the site,
it seemed impossible to determine which one was the
cross of Christ. Just then a funeral procession was
passing by the place, and Helen had all three of the
crosses brought to the side of the dead body. When the
third cross was placed upon the dead man, he rose to
life, confirming that this was indeed the life-giving
cross of Jesus. There are probably hundreds of legends
and stories that are attached to the finding and
veneration of the cross (each with a hundred
variations), and all of them seek to remind us of how
dearly we value the sacrifice the Jesus made by carrying
it. The cross is the burden that he lifted when he
walked among us, it is the symbol of his suffering, it
is the altar on which he as our high priest offered
himself as the sweetest victim.
The Four
Reasons for Suffering
The Prodigal Son and the Lost Sheep,
of Luk.15:
They
suffer because they run away from home, they do not keep
the Commandments, which are like the Laws of Traffic: If
you pass the red light or you come out of the road, you
may hurt others or yourself.
God is after them, and waiting for them, for their
repentance, their change of life, not to punish them,
but to bring them home, to take them on His shoulders,
and receive them with a great feast, organized in person
by God! (Luk.15:5-6, 22-24).
4"Suppose
one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them.
Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country
and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5And
when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders
6and goes home. Then he calls his friends and
neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have
found my lost sheep.' 7I tell you that in the
same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one
sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous
persons who do not need to repent.
(Lk.15:4-7).
The Correction
of God,
of Job 5 and Hebrews 12:
They
are like injections God gives to the ones He loves... I
am a Medical Doctor and people even pay me to put them
injections!:
"Blessed is the man whom God corrects; so do not
despise the discipline of the Almighty (Job:5:17,
Heb.12:5-11, James:1:12, Prov.3:11).
For he wounds, but he also binds up; he injures, but his
hands also heal (Job.5:18, Is.30:26, 1Sam.2:6,
Hos.6:1).
"My
son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do
not lose heart when he rebukes you, 6because
the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes
everyone he accepts as a son."7Endure
hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For
what son is not disciplined by his father? 8If
you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes
discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not
true sons (then are ye bastards, and not sons, KJV)
(Heb.12:5-8)... The only place in the
Bible where the word "bastard of God" is used...
and you are not a "bastard son of God", because you are
disciplined by the Lord.... God has not given up to you
and me!
9Moreover,
we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we
respected them for it. How much more should we submit to
the Father of our spirits and live! 10Our
fathers disciplined us for a little while as they
thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that
we may share in his holiness. 11No discipline
seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on,
however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and
peace for those who have been trained by it.
(Heb.12:9-11).
A
suffering, a cross, for a pagan is like heavy lead that
crushes him into the mud, with even desperation... for a
Christian, sufferings are like wings that bring him
closer to Heaven... on top of making him happier on
earth.
If you
ever feel that you are good for nothing, you are still
good enough to be a Saint, and to be a Saint is the most
a person can be on earth... and in Heaven. And God
Himself is with you and for you, He wants you to be a
Saint, now, even if you feel to old or too sick or too
weak or too abandoned... God is all away for you
(Mat.5:48, 10:30, 1Thes.4:3).
The sufferings of
co-Redemption,
of Colos.1:24:
Because every Christian is another Christ... and every
Christian has to be a co-redeemer, like Mary, an
evangelist to help people to go to Heaven:
Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in
my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is
the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ's
afflictions (Colos.1:24).
Every
pain or sorrow is an "individual cross"... the best
weapon to help relatives and friends to go to Heaven...
Jesus did not redeem us with his wonderful sermons, nor
with his miracles, but with his Cross!... and our daily
cross is our best way to be evangelists, the best reason
to rejoice,
For to you it has been granted for Christ's sake,
not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His
sake (Phil1:29).
These
are the sufferings of Jesus on the Cross... and of all
the Saints, starting with Virgin Mary in Egypt and
Calvary, St. Peter crucified, St. Paul beheaded, the
other apostles martyred...
If you
ever suffer, don't dismay, you are in good company!.
The Chastisements of God:
The
Flood of Gen.6, Sodom and Gomorrah of Gen.19, the 10
Plagues of Exodus 7-12... the Hell of the New
Testament!... they all come from God Himself directly!
If
anyone tells you that God does not chastise, he doesn't
know a thing about the Bible... God punishes, and with
infinite power in his justice, He is God!... and He is
not a fool!, Do not be deceived: God cannot be
mocked. A man reaps what he sows (Gal.6:7).
5
The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had
become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of
his heart was only evil all the time. 6 The
LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and
his heart was filled with pain. 7 So the
LORD said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created,
from the face of the earth-men and animals, and
creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the
air-for I am grieved that I have made them." 8
But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD .
(Gen.6:5-8).
Just
for one man, Noah, mankind was not wipe out from the
face of the earth... you and I have to be the Noah for
our relatives and friends...
Then
the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and
Gomorrah-from the LORD out of the heavens.
(Gen.19:24)... yes, directly from God
Himself!
In the
New testament it is directly from the mouth of Jesus
Himself:
Jesus, the King shall say: 'Depart from me, you who
are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil
and his angels... 46"Then they will go away
to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal
life." (Mat.25:421,46. please read in full
Mat.25:31-46, one of the most instructive passages
in the Bible)
Many reasons may be given to explain why
we qualify to receive the gift of eternal life through
the redemptive plan that was achieved in Christ. But
there is only one reason. It is the incredible love of
God for the world. God sent the Son into the world in
order that it might be saved through Him. [Jn. 3:17]
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 Dear friend, my
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