Readings
for
14 September 2003
Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
(Exalation of the Holy Cross)
Today's First Reading is from The Book of Numbers, beginning at the
21st
Chapter and the 4th Verse (Num 21:4b-9)
From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red
Sea, to go around the
land of Edom; and 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 every one 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 any man, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.
La Primera Lectura es del Libro de los Números, empezando en
el 21mo
Capitulo, y el Primero Verso (Num 21:4b-9)
Y partieron del monte de Hor, camino del mar Bermejo, para rodear la
tierra de Edom; y abatióse el ánimo del pueblo por el
camino. Y habló el pueblo contra Dios y Moisés:
¿Por qué nos
hiciste subir de Egipto para que muramos en este desierto? que ni hay
pan, ni agua, y nuestra alma tiene fastidio de este pan tan
liviano. Y El Señor envió entre el pueblo
serpientes ardientes, que mordían al pueblo: y murió
mucho pueblo de Israel.Entonces el pueblo vino á Moisés,
y dijeron: Pecado
hemos por haber hablado contra Jehová, y contra ti: ruega
á el Señor que
quite de nosotros estas serpientes. Y Moisés oró por el
pueblo. Y E Señor dijo á Moisés: Hazte una
serpiente ardiente, y
ponla sobre la bandera: y será que cualquiera que fuere mordido
y
mirare á ella, vivirá. Y Moisés hizo una serpiente
de metal, y púsola sobre la
bandera, y fué, que cuando alguna serpiente mordía
á alguno, miraba á
la serpiente de metal, y vivia.
Today's Song of Praise is taken from Psalm 78: (Ps 78:1b-2
34-35, 36-37, 38)
R (see 7b) Do not forget the works of the Lord!
Hearken, my people, to my teaching;
incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth in a parable,
I will utter mysteries from of old.
R Do not forget the works of the Lord!
While he slew them they sought him
and inquired after God again,
Remembering that God was their rock
and the Most High God, their redeemer.
R Do not forget the works of the Lord!
But they flattered him with their mouths
and lied to him with their tongues,
Though their hearts were not steadfast toward him,
nor were they faithful to his covenant.
R Do not forget the works of the Lord!
But he, being merciful, forgave their sin
and destroyed them not;
Often he turned back his anger
and let none of his wrath be roused.
R Do not forget the works of the Lord!
El Salmo Responsorial se toma del Salmo 78: (Ps 78:1b-2,
34-35,36-37, 38)
R. No se olvide de las obras de
Dios,
ESCUCHA, pueblo mío, mi ley:
Inclinad vuestro oído á las palabras de mi boca.
Abriré mi boca en parábola;
Hablaré cosas reservadas de antiguo:
R. No se olvide de las obras de
Dios,
Si los mataba, entonces buscaban á Dios;
Entonces se volvían solícitos en busca suya.
Y acordábanse que Dios era su refugio.
Y el Dios Alto su redentor.
R. No se olvide de las obras de Dios,
Mas le lisonjeaban con su boca,
Y con su lengua le mentían:
Pues sus corazones no eran rectos con él,
Ni estuvieron firmes en su pacto.
R. No se olvide de las obras de
Dios,
Empero él misericordioso,
perdonaba la maldad, y no los destruía:
Y abundó para apartar su ira,
Y no despertó todo su enojo.
R. No se olvide de las obras de Dios,
Today's Epistle is from the Letter of Paul to the Philippians,
beginning at the 2nd
Chapter, and the 6th Verse (Phil 2:6-11)
Who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God
a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a
servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in
human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even
death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and
bestowed on him the name which is above every name, 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.
Epistolo del libro de Pablo a los Filipianos, empezando en el
Capitulo Secundo, y
el Verso 6mo (Fil 2:6-11)
El cual, siendo en forma de Dios, no tuvo por usurpación ser
igual á Dios: Sin embargo, se anonadó á
sí mismo, tomando forma de siervo, hecho semejante á los
hombres; Y hallado en la condición como hombre, se
humilló á sí mismo, hecho obediente hasta la
muerte, y muerte de cruz. Por lo cual Dios también le
ensalzó á lo sumo, y dióle un nombre que es sobre
todo nombre; Para que en el nombre de Jesús se doble toda
rodilla
de los que están en los cielos, y de los que en la tierra, y de
los que
debajo de la tierra; Y toda lengua confiese que Jesucristo es el
Señor, á la gloria de Dios Padre.
+A Reading from the Gospel of John, beginning at the 3rd Chapter,
and
the 13th Verse (John 3:13-17)
No one has ascended into heaven but 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 Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have
eternal life. For God sent His Son into the world, not to condemn
the world, but that the world might be saved through him.
+Lectura de Santo Evangelio según San Juan, empezando en el
3mo Capitulo, y el 13mo Verso (Juan 3:13-17)
Y nadie subió al cielo, sino el que descendió del cielo,
el Hijo del hombre, que está en el cielo. Y como
Moisés levantó la serpiente en el desierto, así es
necesario que el Hijo del hombre sea levantado; Para que todo
aquel que en él creyere, no se pierda, sino que tenga vida
eterna. Porque de tal manera amó Dios al mundo, que ha
dado á
su Hijo unigénito, para que todo aquel que en él cree, no
se pierda,
mas tenga vida eterna. Porque no envió Dios á su
Hijo al mundo, para que condene al mundo, mas para que el mundo sea
salvo por él.
Sermon
for
14 September 2003
Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
(Exaltation of the Holy Cross)
"For God so loved the world that he gave his only
Son, that whoever
believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. God sent
His Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world
might be saved through him."
God does not hate sin, nor sinners. The world
is not, by nature, evil. It is disordered -- as the children of
Israel were disordered in the wilderness: "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.'"
By their own free will they turned away from the
Lord -- as Adam did -- and suffered the consequences of their
choice. Yet, when they ask for forgiveness: "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." -- the Lord forgives them, and has Moses
raise up a sign in the desert, by which they are healed.
The "sign set upon a pole" is a Type of Jesus -- a
figure from the Old Testament which prefigures -- prophesies --
Jesus. This is one
of the texts that Paul would have used to convince the Jews in various
places around the Mediterranean that Jesus was indeed the Messiah --
the Anointed One of the Lord.
Much of early Christian Apologetics consisted of
just this -- showing how the Old Testament prophesied the coming of
Jesus -- and a fair amount of the New Testament is written with that in
mind. Several times in the Gospels, Jesus does something "so that
Scripture might be fulfilled."
We, who have grown up from infancy as Christians --
believing that He is both God and Man -- do not need to have it proved
to us in the same way that observant Jews of the 1st Century
did. We learn the words of the Creed: "...one Lord,
Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God,
born of the Father before all ages. God from God, Light
from Light, true God from true God, begotten,
not made, one in being with the Father. Through Him all things
were made."
Paul says: "Who, though he was in the form of
God, ... emptied himself, taking the form of a
servant, being born in the likeness of men." God became Man.
Not only was He born as a man, but He died as a man
-- for us.
"For God so loved the world that he ... sent His Son
into the world, not to condemn
the world, but that the world might be saved through him."
Just as the Israelites were healed by looking at the
brazen serpent lifted up on a pole in the desert, so we are reminded of
our salvation -- our way to eternal life -- by looking at the Crucifix
-- the representation of Jesus being lifted up on the Cross for us.
Let us remember Him, and his Father's love for us .
. .
In the
Name of
the Father +
And of the Son
+
And of the
Holy Spirit +
Amen.
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