A Strange Story

Msgr. Michael Woster
The Feast of the Exultation of the Cross
September 14, 2025

Our responsorial psalm reminded us, “Do not forget the work of the Lord.” In the context of our first reading from the Old Covenant today we find that the Israelite people had forgotten the work of the Lord giving them freedom. But now they were out in the desert where things were dangerous and difficult and, in some ways, extremely frightening. Many Israelites, due to these hardships that they were experiencing, complained to the Lord. The Lord became angry with them and sent fiery serpents among the people which killed many. The Lord relented when they begged and asked for forgiveness. So, God instructed Moses to make an image of the serpent and attach it to a pole saying that whoever was bitten and looked upon this image would be healed. 

This is a strange story. Why would looking at an image of a creature which was the cause of death bring about healing? The story, taken by itself, doesn’t make any sense. But of course, for us who are Christian, the story makes complete sense. For we who are believers know that this Old Testament story is a foreshadowing of the central event of Christian faith and belief. 

In the Gospel today, Jesus himself makes the connection between the serpent event and his own death on the Cross. The serpent in the Old Testament is of course a symbol of evil. 

Remember again the story of the fall of Adam and Eve. But in the story of Adam and Eve, the real evil in the story is not so much the evil of the tempter serpent, but the evil of the lack of faith and trust of our first parents and their disobedience of God’s commandments in the garden. This sinful reality is echoed by the Israelites, in our first reading today, as they complained against God forgetting his quick work for them, not in the garden, but in the desert on their arduous journey to the promised land.  

And it is echoed again in the hearts and lives of people today when we fail to trust God and then take matters into our own hands, searching for happiness in all the wrong places, and showing that we are willing to break God’s commandments in the worst sorts of ways in order to get what we want. 

This happens to us in our personal lives, but also to us in our social and communal life as well. Abortion, euthanasia always include a failure to trust God. Racial injustice and profiling are always born out of the view that my neighbor is my enemy and a threat to what I believe is justly mine. Wars always reveal a hidden hatred for one’s fellow man. And the list goes on and on and on. 

The only solution is the mystery of the Christian Cross — a symbol of death that brings healing and new life. The Christian Cross reveals a suffering which has overcome the evil of sin and restores the possibility of reconciliation with God. So, my dear people, this weekend as we lift up and gaze upon the mystery of the Holy Cross of Jesus and remember the way in which God has taken away our personal sins and the sins of the world, we also realize that the way in which we embrace the Cross in our life is also the way that God uses us to bring about healing and new life to our world. 

In this Liturgy today, I pray for you. I pray for me. I pray for all of us. That our crosses will be light and not burdensome in the presence of our Lord Jesus, who in his great love, has carried his Cross for all of us.