The Glorious Cross: Our Victory

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

St. Gerard Majella Church, Baton Rouge, LA

Sunday, September 14, 2014

God is certainly more than what we say he is. Whatever names or adjectives we call him or associate with him, he is much more than that. We often times regard him as good and faithful. We say he is love, merciful and compassionate. Indeed he is! But I often times say that, “If you cannot call him God, just call him Patience.” God is indeed a very patient and tolerant God. Patience is his nature. He’s so patient with our foolery and unconscionable behaviors. Despite our ungrateful behaviors, he continues to be patient and tolerant. But in today’s first reading taken from the book of Numbers 21:4b-9, God appears fed up with the people of Israel. They were ungrateful even after all God had done for them.  He saved them from Pharaoh’s slavery, liberated them from slavery in Egypt, saved them from the rampaging and vicious Egyptian soldiers, and fed them miraculously by sending manna in the desert and causing water to flow from a rock to quench their thirst. Yet, when the Israelites encountered little difficulty, they forgot the wonderful past deeds of the Lord and started to complain 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!” Really? Does anyone think that the almighty God would bring someone from one harm only to let the person plunge into a deeper harm? Does anyone think that the all-powerful God would bring his beloved one from the excruciating pain of a frying pan only to let the person fall into a blazing fire? Does anyone believe that the all-redeeming Lord would lead someone or a group of people out of harm's way, and halfway into the journey, abandon them? Can the Source of Light, the Light itself lead a people through the darkest night, and halfway into the Promise Land of light turn off the light? 

The Israelites believed so. They were so impatient with Patience, God himself, and his servant Moses that they were ready to harm Moses. God wanted nothing for them but life—to live in freedom, to enjoy his friendship and to be saved. But in their way of thinking, God had brought them out from Egypt to die in the desert. They flared in anger towards God and Moses, and God allowed them to experience the consequences of their outbursts. Any rejection of God, in any form or shape, has punishable and painful consequences. Of course God doesn’t punish anyone, but our very refusal to be loved by him and to walk in his ways is enough punishment, which we have brought upon ourselves. The Psalmist in Psalm 130:3 asks: "If you O Lord should mark our sins, who could stand?" But in our human way of thinking, God does punish. This is evident in the first reading, which says: “In punishment the Lord sent among the people serpents, which bit the people so that many of them died.” But God couldn’t possibly allow his people to be finished up by the wicked serpent. As soon as Moses prayed to him on behalf of his people, God immediately intervened and said to Moses: “Make a seraph and mount it on a pole, and if any who have been bitten look at it, they will live.” This means that the very thing that brought death has become a symbol of life. God can bring out good from even the ugliest situation. When the bronze serpent was lifted up, and sinners looked upon it, they were spared and saved. This Old Testament event prepares us to receive and understand the words of Jesus in today’s Gospel: “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” (John 3:14-15). In the Old Testament, God used the symbol of death, i.e. the serpent, to save the Israelite people. In the New Testament, God once again, used another symbol of death that is, “the cross, and transform[ed] it into an expression of divine love for all of us.” 

Today, we celebrate the glorious cross of Christ. We honor the instrument of torture on which Jesus Christ, our Savior and our God died. The cross can rightly be called the, “sign of the Son of Man.” From the cross was born the new life of Paul; from the cross was born the conversion of St. Augustine of Hippo; from the cross was born the joyful poverty of St. Francis of Assisi; from the cross was born the radiant goodness of St. Vincent de Paul; from the cross was born the great compassion of St. Alphonsus Liguori; from the cross was born the heroism of Maximilian Kolbe; from the cross was born the amazing charity of Mother Teresa of Calcutta; from the cross was born the courage of John Paul II; from the cross was born the bravery of Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador; from the cross was born the courage and justice of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who challenged America to live out the true meaning of its creed, that all men and women are created equal; from the cross was born the revolution of love. So the cross is not the death of God, but the birth of his love in our world. 

The cross is not a depiction of weakness, rather a symbol of hope and new-life. For through the cross, Jesus conquered death, definitively for all eternity. Through the cross, we too can conquer death, the death that comes from sin. Through the cross, we all are led by the Spirit of God, to the glory of the Resurrection. Through the cross, we receive eternal life and bliss in God. The cross is the profound manifestation of God’s love for all men and women. As we celebrate the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, let us be joyful and thankful to God for his uncommon and unexplainable love for us. Unlike the Israelites, we should desist from complaining for what we are yet to receive, or for what we have been denied. For whatever we are yet to receive, and for whatever we have been denied, let us accept as part of our cross. For in the Gospel of Matthew 16:24, Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves, take up their cross and follow me.” The cross is a symbol and a sign of victory, and not defeat. Without the cross, there is no crown. Our Holy Father, Pope Francis says, “When we walk without the cross, when we build without the cross and when we proclaim Christ without the cross, we are not disciples of the Lord. We are worldly. We may be bishops, priests, cardinals, popes. all of this, but we are not disciples of the Lord.” 

The Cross of Jesus! Be our Defender!