THE WORD
Nm 21,4-9 / Phil 2,6-11 / Jn 3,13-17
[Jesus said to Nicodemus,] “No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man. And 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.”
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.
IN OTHER WORDS
The cross is often reduced to a good-luck charm around our necks or dangles from the rearview mirrors of our cars. But we should be very clear about this: The Cross of Christ does not promise us success, health, or pleasure. It only promises us that Jesus will be with us, no matter how badly we suffer, fail, and feel. Jesus said, “Behold I am with you always until the end of the age.” That is the meaning of the Cross and the meaning of our Christian faith.
The Cross is also a sign of hope. When we look on the Cross, we can believe that there is hope beyond our suffering, our failures, and our loss. There is hope for the single pregnant mother, the terminally ill, and the poor. There is hope because God will not abandon us in our sufferings.
The God of Jesus did not fail the city of Tacloban in the path of Typhoon Yolanda nor the faithful friend or neighbor afflicted with cancer. The God of Jesus Christ suffered with them and is with us.
The Cross is the sign that makes us aware of this truth. The Cross gives us the answer in times of suffering. Looking at the Cross, at the suffering Son of
God, we hear Jesus exclaim: “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” In his apostolic letter, Pope John Paul II wrote that Christ’s suffering on the cross was for our salvation, so we can give meaning to our suffering if we unite ourselves and our suffering with that of Christ on the Cross and offer it for the salvation of a sinner. We can transform ugly suffering into a salvific act if only we always look at the Cross, the sign of salvation and hope.
- Fr. Rudy Horst, SVD | CKMS,QC
The Word in other words 2016
An annual project of Logos Publications, The WORD in Other Words Bible Diary contains daily scripture readings and reflections written by priest, brothers, and sisters of the three congregations founded by St. Arnold Janssen (the SVD, SSpS, and SSpSAP). It hopes to serve as a daily companion to readers who continually seek the correlation of the Word of God and human experience.
