Exaltation of the Cross

Today is the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross and we are challenged to look at what is killing us. To do what a Buddhist might call "deep looking" or a Christian could call a "contemplative gaze," or "a long, loving look at what is real." Whatever we call it, we are challenged to recognize what ails us and see that it is exactly by looking at what ails us that we are redeemed.

In the first reading (Nm 21:4b-9), Moses has led the people into the desert and they start complaining. The journey is taking too long. They can only see the "wretched food" in front of them and fail to recognize the gift of freedom they have been given. Their complaints, like all poisonous words, bring death. This time it comes in the form of saraph serpents.

The people do not know what to do. They recognize that something has gone dreadfully wrong but don't know how to respond. They are frightened and powerless in the face of the serpents.

They ask Moses what to do. The very one they had been complaining against becomes the vehicle of healing!

Moses prays and is told to tell the people to gaze at the fruits of their evil. Peer into the deadly consequences of their bitter words. And in that simple look, healing occurs. A loving glance would set them free of the serpents poison. It was that simple. Clear vision healed the people of the fruits of their own sin.

The Gospel (Jn 3:13-17) presents a similar message. Looking with compassion at a crucified human being, being confronted with the fruits of our own fear and violence, is the way to eternal life. That's one aspect of the grace of the cross. After looking at the violence around us, we cannot pretend we are saints. We know otherwise. There is a dark part of us which is capable of horrors. The cross reveals this darkness. It redeems the darkness by exposing it.

We are a few days past the anniversary of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Our country is still ailing. There is plenty to complain about and plenty of serpent bites. The horror of humanity is exposed again raising questions, not providing answers:

• Do we have the courage to look deeply at these serpents?
• Will we gaze on our brothers and sisters who are suffering and be moved to compassion?
• Will our inner violence be transformed by peering into the eyes of the suffering?
• Can we allow our darkness to be redeemed?

There is hope. "… God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him."

We are standing at a place of transformation. Our violence is exposed once again. There is another way. Jesus has shown us a way beyond violence. In his teaching, he shows us the way of peace and nonviolence. In his Spirit, he empowers us to love. It is not an easy way, this way of love, but now that the cross has exposed our violence we know that Jesus' way is our last, best hope for peace.