God’s love is stronger than suffering and death
by Sister Sally Ann Brickner
When watching the parade with my grandnephew on Labor Day, he asked why the passing ambulance had a pole with a serpent wound around it. I explained that it was a medical symbol, actually called the Star of Life. This moment was not the time nor was a village street the place to provide him with the depth of meaning in the symbol. It may be found in the Scriptural passages chosen for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross that we celebrate on Sunday.
In the passage from Numbers 21, the Israelites complain against God and Moses in the desert. When serpents arise and bite many of them resulting in death, they turn to Moses and plead that he pray to have the serpents removed. At God’s command, Moses makes a bronze serpent that those who had been bitten can gaze upon and be healed. How appropriate, then, that a serpent on a pole represents the power of physical healing by our medical profession.
The Gospel passage from John references Numbers 21. As Moses raised up the bronze serpent, so the Son of Man must be lifted up on the Cross. Then follows the most famous verse in the Bible: “For God so loved the world that he gave his Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life” (John 3:16). Thus, the Cross represents for Christians the glorious symbol of salvation. We gaze upon the crucifix and see God’s love poured out for us through his Son’s obedience even to death on the Cross. Through our belief in Him we are gifted with everlasting life. Dan Schutte offers a beautiful hymn that captures the significance of this feast: “Let us ever glory in the Cross of Christ, our salvation and our hope. Let us bow in homage to the Lord of Life who was broken to make us whole.”
I hope that someday the opportunity presents itself to unravel for my grandnephew not just the meaning behind the Star of Life but also the power of the Cross upon which the Lord of Life died that we might live forever.
To remind us of God’s great love, we pray the Sign of the Cross: “In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.”
What I have come to know as "salvation" is really about a "fullness of truth." One might also include "fullness of life." Salvation, i.e., fullness of truth and life, is meant for all.
I have always been drawn to one of Jesus' last statements before being sent to his death. "The reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” (Jn.18:37)
It is John, too, who proclaims "God is True," as is the Spirit of God: "Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is True. For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure." (Jn.3: 33-34)
And yet again, John declares it is the Spirit who IS and reveals truth: “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come." (Jn. 16: 12-13)
Thus, John declares Jesus, God the Father, and the Spirit as being Authentically True. In this "Trueness" (Integrity) is our salvation.
I see People, Youth, Children in our Times hungry for Truth. We live in times of deceit, disinformation, and a daily barrage of out-right lies. Such as this breeds hypocrisy and corruption in extreme measures. Without truth there is neither "fullness of life" or "salvation."
How will our lives honor "Truth?" How will our Children and Youth see and believe in us that Truth really does matter? How are our Children and Youth being guided into Truth and Fullness of Life in these excessively violent and deceitful Times?