The Roman Catholic Lectionary today presents texts to
celebrate the feast of the Triumph of the Cross. The Gospel of John proclaims the
Divinity of the Son of Man, Jesus, as the One who has ascended into heaven. The
expectation that God should condemn and destroy those who have rejected and
treated Jesus with the instrument of terror, death and intimidation used by the
Roman occupiers to suppress and dominate people is reversed in the proclamation
of forgiveness and salvation from God in the words of John that the world is
not condemned. Friar Jude Winkler points out that the cross is the presentation
of Jesus glory in the Gospel of John as God who “loves us to death”. The hymn
from the letter of Paul to the Philippians proclaims the desire of the Divine
Son to empty Himself (Friar Jude defines it as kenosis ) and live as servant to
people in humility and healing. The text from the Book of Numbers, at first
glance, appears to border on “idol worship”, a much prohibited practice in
traditional Jewish spiritual life in Covenant with God. Friar Jude explains the
ancient practice of using an icon of the healing received from God as the
reminder or “faith lens” through which the love and healing of God is recalled.
This practice continues as the Cross focuses believers on the eternal Presence
of Jesus with us as the One who gives all for our healing and communion with
Him. Father Robert Barron, in the magnificent video series Catholicism, points
to the “in your face” nature of the Cross to those of the Roman occupation who would
attempt to treat Emperors as gods. The instrument designed to terrorize and end
resistance to Roman control is eternally the icon of love and forgiveness. Many
sites of Catholic shines in the world are visited by Father Barron in this
video series. We see and understand the observation of Friar Jude that icons of
hands, feet and body parts healed in these places return the focus of the
faithful to the love of God Faith, daily, converts the fear of death on
the cross to thanksgiving for healing from God.
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