THE CROSS SAVES
INTRODUCTORY RITES
INTRODUCTORY RITES
Gather as a family/ community; create an environment appropriate for prayer (dress appropriately - switch off your phones...).
We are conscious that Christ is present not only in the Blessed Sacrament but also in the Scriptures and in our hearts. Even when we are on our own, we remain part of the Body of Christ.
Place lighted candles, a crucifix, and the Bible on a covered table. These remind us of the sacredness of our time of prayer and could help us feel connected with our local worshipping communities.
You may sing or play an appropriate hymn. For instance:
Greeting and Introductory Words
L: The Lord invites us to the table of his Word: let us bless him for his goodness.
A: Blessed be God forever.
L: The Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross invites us to look upon the One who was lifted up, drawing all people to himself. It proclaims that what once symbolised shame and death has become the sign of healing and eternal life. It calls us to gaze upon the Cross and see there the revelation of divine love that embraces all humanity and offers new life.
We pray that we may experience the crosses in our lives as paths to salvation.
Penitential Rite
L: Do we bear our crosses with Christ? Do we grumble and rebel about our crosses? Let us examine ourselves before the Lord.
Pause
L: Lord Jesus, by your cross you have redeemed the world:
Lord, have mercy.
A: Lord, have mercy.
L: Lord Jesus, you are our salvation, our life, and our resurrection:
Christ, have mercy.
A: Christ, have mercy.
L: Lord Jesus, through you we are saved and delivered:
Lord, have mercy.
A: Lord, have mercy.
L: May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life.
A: Amen.
Gloria
Opening Prayer
L: O God, who willed that your Only Begotten Son
should undergo the Cross to save the human race,
grant, we pray,
that we, who have known his mystery on earth,
may merit the grace of his redemption in heaven .
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever.
A: Amen.
THE LITURGY OF THE WORD
Readings
The readings are those assigned for the day in the Lectionary.
Preferably use a Bible/ Lectionary for reading.
Reading 1 Numbers 21:4b-9
Psalm Psalm 78:1bc-2, 34-38
Response Do not forget the works of the Lord!
Reading 2 Philippians 2:6-11
Acclamation
Alleluia, alleluia.
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you,
because by your Cross you have redeemed the world.
Gospel John 3:13-17
Reflection on the Readings
Use one of the following ways to reflect on the readings.
Lectio Divina
Imagine you are listening to Jesus talk with Nicodemus. What are your thoughts and feelings when you hear him say “the Son of Man be lifted up” and talk about God’s immense love for the world?
Sunday Snippets
A little girl suffered severe burn injuries in an accident. Every day, the medical team would take her for debridement: a painful procedure to remove the dead tissue. She went through excruciating pain but never complained. She often remarked: “I know you are doing this so that I can get better.” This amazing kid knew that the pain was part of her restoration to health.
Acceptance of pain leading to growth: that’s an unwritten law of life. Surgery is painful, but it saves. A child leaving home to go to college is painful for parents and child, but it is needed to help the child to become his/her own person.
Acceptance of pain leading to growth, the Cross as the way of salvation – this is what we celebrate today.
In the Gospel, Jesus leads Nicodemus to the heart of the mystery of the Son of God who descended from heaven and was “lifted up as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert”.
The First Reading describes the Israelites’ grumbling and ingratitude towards God after he provided them with manna. This brought on God’s displeasure: poisonous snakes bit them. When Moses asked God to save them, he asked him to make a bronze serpent and mount it on a pole; whoever looked at it would live. The symbol of their pain becomes the instrument of their salvation! Jesus says that all who gaze upon him “lifted up” on the cross will see their sins with the inevitable painful results. But they will understand them as forgiven and will find again the life of God.
The second reading is the hymn from Paul’s Letter to the Philippians in which the acceptance of the cross is seen as the cause of Christ’s “exaltation”.
The snake was the curse and the cure. The cross was the curse and the cure. Can the things that are hardest in our life be the vehicles that bring us closest to God? What are the crosses I need to accept?
May our celebration of Christ’s death strengthen us to accept our crosses that we may celebrate his resurrection as well?
Questions to Ponder
Reflect on some (or all) of the following questions:
Reading 1: How does Moses holding up the serpent parallel Jesus being lifted up on the cross?
Reading 2: Paul writes that Jesus did not seek equality with God. Do people seek equality with God, even subconsciously? What about me?
Gospel: Why would Jesus take the suffering of all humanity upon himself? Does it show how much God loves us? How does this impact my life?
The Creed
Prayer of the Faithful
L: The psalmist calls on God’s mercy and faithfulness amid suffering. Let us now do the same as we offer our needs to God, as we pray: Lord, hear our prayer.
R: For the Church: that we who were signed with the cross at our baptism, may walk with Christ through the Paschal Mystery and allow God to guide us through all of life’s trials, we pray…
R: For world leaders: that they may strive to lighten the cross of those who are marginalized because of race, gender, economic status, and education, we pray…
R: For all who are persecuted or discriminated against for their Christian faith: that the cross of Christ may bring them strength and courage to remain faithful and continue to give witness to the Gospel, we pray…
R: For all who carry the cross each day – parents of troubled children, those struggling with addiction, and those who have been abused: that Christ who has been lifted up may walk with them through their pain and into new life, we pray…
R: For preservation of our common home: that we may strive to bequeath a habitable world to future generations, we pray…
R: For ourselves: that like Christ who emptied himself for us, we may accept our limits, be emptied of pride and the need to control, and allow God to work through us and our weaknesses, we pray…
L: Merciful God, just as you heard Moses’ prayer and provided healing for your people, hear our prayers and grant us the grace to lift our gaze towards your divine love and mercy, so that we may find comfort, strength, and healing in right faith, sure hope, and perfect charity. We ask this through Christ our Lord.
A: Amen.
SPIRITUAL COMMUNION
The Lord’s Prayer
Spiritual Communion
A: Jesus, I know and believe in your real presence in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist. It is you I desire to love and receive above all things. As I am unable to receive your sacramental presence now, come and be with me in heart and soul. Let my entire self be united with you as I welcome you again and know your loving embrace. Amen.
Post Spiritual Communion Reflection
Lord,
you sent your Son, Jesus, because you loved the world,
and he endured the Cross to save humanity.
Thank you for your boundless love,
which is revealed in this ultimate act of sacrifice and humility.
Lord,
the Cross shines as a sign of obedience to your will
and your profound love for the world.
May we embrace the cross in our own lives,
see our burdens not as burdens,
but as invitations to share in Christ's suffering.
May the power of his Cross transform our trials
to become a source of exaltation in our lives.
May we, who have known the mystery of the Cross on earth,
merit the grace of your redemption in heaven.
CONCLUDING RITE
Concluding Prayer
L: Lord God,
make us see the redeeming value of suffering.
Give us the mentality of Jesus Christ:
make us ready to be totally Christian,
totally committed to you and to people,
even at the cost of suffering.
Through Christ our Lord.
A: Amen.
Blessing
L: The Lord bless us, protect us from all evil, and lead us to everlasting life.
A: Amen.
L: Go in the peace of Christ.
A: Thanks be to God.
Conclude with a hymn. For instance:
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