One Minute Reflection – 9 April – Tuesday of the Fifth week of Lent, First Reading: Numbers 21:4-9, Gospel: John 8:21–30
“When you have lifted up the Son of man, then you will know that I Am He…”...John 8:28
REFLECTION – “What is the serpent? The serpent is the sign for sin. We think of the Book of Genesis – it was the serpent that seduced Eve, that suggested that she sin. And God commands [Moses] to lift up the serpent, that is sin, as a flag of victory. It is something that one cannot understand well, if one does not understand what Jesus said in the Gospel. Jesus says to the Jews – ‘When you have lifted up the Son of man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own authority but speak thus as the Father taught me”. Lifting up the symbol of their sin and transforming it into an instrument of salvation, therefore, represents the redemption which comes from Christ lifted up on the Cross.
“Christianity, is not a philosophical doctrine, it is not a programme of life that enables one to be well formed and to make peace. These are its consequences. Christianity is a person, a person lifted up on the Cross. A person who emptied Himself to save us. He took on sin. And so just as in the desert sin was lifted up, here God made man was lifted up for us. And all of our sins were there. Therefore, one cannot understand Christianity, without understanding this profound humiliation of the Son of God, who humbled Himself and made Himself a servant unto death, on the Cross. To serve”.
PRAYER – Holy Father, we have sinned against You and beg for Your forgiveness and mercy. Through the merits of the saving Cross of Your Son, help Your people O Lord, to persevere in obedience to Your will, so that through this obedience, we may reach our eternal home. We hope for the intercession of your angels and saints and our most loving Mother of Mercy. Through Christ, our Lord with the Holy Spirit, God forever, amen.
AnaStpaul 