OMELIE / Omelie EN

14 set 2025

14/09/2025 - Exaltation of the Holy Cross

14/09/2025 - Exaltation of the Holy Cross

on the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time

First reading Num 21:4b-9 from Psalm 77 Second reading Phil 2:6-11 Gospel Jn 3:13-17

Today's feast originates from the dedication of the basilicas built by Emperor Constantine, at the urging of his mother Saint Helena, on Calvary and at the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. These basilicas were built to preserve and honour the most significant places for our faith. Jesus died on Calvary and was laid in a new tomb in the garden nearby, from which he rose on the third day. Today we go spiritually to that place to meditate on those events, to understand them, and to enjoy their fruit, allowing ourselves to be taught by the Lord himself who experienced them.

The first reading takes us back to the desert of Sinai: everything that happened during the exodus of the people of Israel is a sign, a figure and a prophecy of the realities concerning the Son of Man, the Lord Jesus.

There, because of fatigue, hunger and thirst, the people murmur against God and against Moses, his servant. In this way, they show that they do not appreciate the gift of freedom and do not trust in the God who, in various ways, had shown them that he was accompanying and protecting them. Their murmuring suggests that the people do not see God as a father who loves them and is intent on guiding them to salvation, but as a servant of their own progress and earthly well-being. Death, caused by the snakes, is therefore seen by them as punishment, a consequence of the sin of murmuring and mistrust. Knowing that they are sinners, the people do not feel worthy of praying for salvation and ask Moses himself to intercede. God hears his friend's plea and grants it. Salvation comes, but not in a magical way: to those who want to be saved, he proposes an act of obedience, that is, of faith, even if it is very easy. All those bitten by a snake need to do is look at the image of a bronze snake placed on a pole to stay alive.

Jesus, in the Gospel, explains the prophecy of this event. Who among us has not been bitten by the serpent, the one who deceived Adam? All men are sinners; we have all inherited from our forefather the tendency to disbelief, to distrust God, to hide from his gaze, to disobey him. The consequences of this mistrust are a source of suffering and discontent for everyone, and they ruin our daily relationships. We all therefore need salvation. We all bear the marks of death within us because of the ancient serpent, the devil. Who can be saved? Are we condemned forever? What can we do?

Behold, God offers us a chance. He shows us an easy and joyful obedience that can save us. Let us look to the one who allowed himself to be lifted up, let us lift our gaze to the wood from which the Son of Man hangs, and we will be saved. Jesus lifted up is our salvation. From the cross, he draws our gaze; we will love him, listen to his Word, obey his desires, follow his example, and find ourselves in joy, able to serve, to look upon others as brothers and sisters. He who was lifted up like the bronze serpent is the gift that God has given us so that we can do something to save ourselves. We can look at him with love and, contemplating him, let his Spirit enter us. This is the obedience that saves us.

St Paul also helps us to see in Jesus' death his great love for us sinners: for our sake, he renounced all the advantages of being God, took on the weakness and suffering of man, and accepted the humiliation of death. Because of his great love, God exalted him, placing him before our eyes so that we might adore him, love him, and praise him with our voices. God exalted him, and we welcome him as Lord and God of our lives.

Today we continue to give thanks because we have been saved through the blood of Jesus. His love for us, a love that goes so far as to give his life, is the greatest and most beautiful demonstration that the Father loves us. It was God himself, the Father, who sent Jesus; he sent him as a sure possibility of salvation: by clinging to him we are forgiven and welcomed into divine life.

The image of every cross, from the one we wear around our necks to the one we hang at the entrance to our homes, reminds us of God's love, which cost Jesus his life in the humiliation of death. This memory helps us to bear our sufferings and to continue Jesus' offering to the Father, as a gift with which we too collaborate in the salvation of humanity. The memory of his resurrection fills us with joy and nourishes our hope that we too will receive the reward of eternal life and glory!