Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Homily – 03-11-2008 - Tuesday

We have an enormously important message today in our Lenten readings: Jesus and the Father are one! When we hear the one, we hear the other! When we see the one, we see the other! When we obey the one, we obey the other!

How could it be otherwise? Jesus is the exact representation of the Father's being, and Jesus' entire life was spent seeking, doing and reveling in the will of his Father.

In the gospel passage today Jesus tells the Jews that they will die in their sins unless they believe that "I AM." The name "I AM" is the name that God the Father gave Moses to tell the people about his identity in the Old Testament. Jesus and the Father are one, and so Jesus is also "I AM" – and so when "I AM" is raised up on the Cross – all who look at him and believe in him and in his Father who sent him – will be saved from their sins! This is incredibly amazing news! Sin will always be lurking about to trap and delude mankind – but for those who believe in Jesus – it need not be a concern at all.

The point is that we must look up at Christ Crucified in order to make our act of belief effective. Just as God the Father provided for the curing of the people bit by seraph snakes by having them look up to a bronze image of a seraph mounted on a people (this being a prefiguring of Jesus who would become sin and be mounted on the wood of a tree) – so he provides for the salvation of those who would look up to Christ Crucified and believe that he is truly the Son of God who came into the world to save it from all that it needed saving from.

This is why for us as Catholic Christians having an image of the Crucified Christ raised above the assembly is a very important image to have and preserve. For unless we look up and live, look up and believe, look up and mourn for our sins – then we shall surely die in our sins, Jesus will have come in vain. He will have died for nothing!

O Lord, hear our prayers today – as we look up to the image of your Son who loved us beyond all telling – and died for us – let our cry come unto you – and grant us your salvation!

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