THE CROSS OF CHRIST IS OUR HOPE AND SALVATION! ~ CookingFood.Org

“HONEY FROM THE ROCK”

Wednesday, 14^th September 2016,

Twenty Fourth Week of Ordinary Time

Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

Num 21: 4-9;

Ps 77: 1-2, 34-38;

Phil 2: 6-11;

Jn 3: 13-17

THE CROSS OF CHRIST IS OUR HOPE AND SALVATION!

The Cross is the sign of the Christian. Every Christian, the little child as well as the great saint, makes the sign of the Cross, bearing witness to its permanent significance. Jesus sacrificed his life on the Cross and thus redeemed the human race. It is therefore no more a symbol of suffering and disgrace, but of salvation. The cross is the way to glory, and therefore a challenge to every Christian. As St Paul says, “We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called , both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor 1: 23-24). In the history of Christianity the Cross on which Christ the Lord died and through which he came to the Resurrection, has become the eminent sign of God’s saving action. The Fathers of the Church compare the Cross of Christ with the tree of life in the earthly paradise, with the Ark of Noah, with the wood that Isaac carried to mount Moriah, with Jacob’s ladder, with the staff of Moses, and with the bronze serpent. All these are intimately linked with the mystery of salvation. In Baptism every Christian is crucified with Christ, dies and rises with Christ. St Leo the Great says, “The Cross of Christ is the source of every blessing, the fountain of all merit: to the faithful it gives strength from His weakness, glory from His shame, and life from His death.”

Prayer: O Cross erected above the world, be my healing and salvation. Amen.