Homily – Exaltation of the Cross – Year C – Fr Jeremiah Browne (National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies #southafrica #Botswana #eswatini #Swaziland)
The cross makes no sense as an image of hope – at least not at first glance. In the ancient world, the cross was the cruellest instrument of execution. It was meant to humiliate, to break the body, to crush the spirit. No one would ever have imagined lifting it high as a sign of life or wearing it around their neck as a sign of faith. Yet today we exalt the Cross. We lift it high, because in it we see not death, but life; not defeat, but victory; not cruelty, but love.
The first reading from the book of Numbers (21:4-9) shows us a foreshadowing of this mystery. The Israelites, weary from their desert journey, turn against God and Moses. Poisonous serpents afflict them, and many die. When they repent, God instructs Moses to fashion a bronze serpent and lift it up on a pole. Whoever looks upon it with trust is healed. The very image of their suffering becomes, through God’s power, the source of their healing.
In the Gospel, Jesus points directly to this story: “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes may have eternal life.” The Cross becomes the new sign lifted up – so that whoever gazes upon Christ with faith will be healed of the deepest poison of all: sin and death.
What once seemed an instrument of cruelty is transformed into the tree of life.
This is not just a story from long ago. The Cross touches our daily lives. Many of us carry burdens that feel like serpents’ bites: illness, grief, broken relationships, disappointment, regret. Alone, these wounds poison us. But when we lift our eyes to the Cross, when we place our pain into the heart of Christ, healing begins.
Looking to the Cross does not magically remove our struggles, but it does fill them with meaning and hope. The Cross tells us that God is with us in the very pain that we experience, that no suffering is beyond his reach, and that love will always have the final word.
Because of this, the Cross is not only something we look at in times of trial; it is something that shapes our whole way of living. From the very beginning, at baptism, the priest traces the Cross on our foreheads, sealing us as Christ’s own. From then on, the Cross marks us as God’s children, joined to Jesus in his death and resurrection.
Throughout life, we continue to return to it: blessing ourselves with holy water when we enter the church, or beginning our prayers with that simple gesture – the sign of the cross. It may look like a small habit, but it is a powerful act of faith. Each time we mark ourselves with the Cross, we are renewing our baptism and saying again: I belong to Christ. My life is shaped by his love. I choose to walk in his way.
Jesus shows us what a life united with his looks like. For him, the path to glory is not through domination, but through humility, not through self-protection, but through self-giving love.
Each time we make the sign of the Cross or pause before a crucifix, we are reminded that this is the pattern for our own lives. We are invited to forgive when wronged, to serve quietly when it costs us something, to stand with the suffering rather than turn away.
For some, the Cross may seem a stumbling block or even foolishness. But for those who believe, it is the power of God at work. It is the assurance that no darkness is too deep, no wound too severe, no sin too heavy for God’s mercy.
So, today, the Cross stands before us not as a symbol of destruction and torture, but as a reminder that love triumphs over darkness, that life is stronger than death, and that God’s mercy never fails. May we carry the Cross within our hearts, allowing it to direct our lives, guide our decisions, and inspire the love we share with others.
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Please consider praying a decade of the rosary on a daily basis for the evangelising Mission of the Church and the Pope’s intentions.
The Pope’s prayer intention for September: ‘For our relationship with all of creation’
Let us pray that, inspired by Saint Francis, we might experience our interdependence with all creatures who are loved by God and worthy of love and respect.
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Blessed Pauline Jaricot, Pray for us. 🙏🏼🙏🏼
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