23rd Week in Ordinary Time
14th September 2023 (Thursday) Readings and Reflection
Psalter: Week 3
Reading of the Day
First Reading: Numbers 21:4b-9
In those days: The people became impatient on the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.
Psalm 78:1-2, 34-35, 36-37, 38 (R. see 7b)
R/. Never forget the deeds of the Lord!
Second Reading: Philippians 2:6-11
Christ Jesus who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Alleluia
V/. Alleluia R/. Alleluia
V/. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, because by your Cross you have redeemed the world.
R/. Alleluia
Gospel : John 3:13-17
At that time: Jesus said to Nicodemus, “No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
Daily Gospel Reflection
Highlight: Cross: a sign of contradiction!
Guidlines:In the sight of the world, it is a symbol of crime, punishment, shame and suffering. It indicates human hatred, cruelty, arrogance, avarice, jealousy, retaliation, instability and disloyalty.{alertSuccess}
1. But, God transforms it, turns it: From a sign of contradiction to a signal of conviction; From a reference of malediction to a source of benediction; From a sting of curse to a spring of blessing; From the arrival point of condemnation to the departure point of commendation to God and redemption.
2. God transforms the cross into a testament and testimony of divine fidelity. God sanctified the cross, dignified and glorified it into a royal weapon of salvation.
3. In the height of the Cross, we see the heights of God’s fidelity to humanity and His perseverance in His salvific mission to the end. Come what may, God stood firm and remained faithful till the last moment. No trials or temptations could defocus him or deviate him from his mission. Nothing could frighten him or tighten him. He was unstoppable, unswerving, unflinching, undaunted.
4. In the cross, we see the sanctity and dignity of suffering. Every suffering is not automatically something bad or despicable. The suffering that is no one’s fault, that is due to depraved human situations, and especially suffering for the sake of God and the sake of good is always meritorious. Such suffering is in fact a sharing in the very suffering and death of Christ. It is a continuation of his own mission of salvation.
5. Let us not be mere cross-wearers but cross-bearers. This refers to the virtues and values of the cross.
6. Let us not be cross-shapers but cross-sharers, not cross-imposers but cross-disposers. This refers to the aspect of sharing the burdens of each other. Cf. Gal 6. 2.
7. Let us not be cross-makers but cross-breakers. This refers to submission to God’s will against self-will. This is in the light of the insight of the great Fulton J. Sheen. He observes that a cross is made whenever we place the horizontal bar of our self-will against the vertical bar of God’s will.
Practice: Carry the cross to Calvary to crucify sin and glorify God. This refers to perseverance to the end {alertSuccess}