FEAST OF THE EXALTATION OF THE HOLY CROSS
Nm 21:4b-9; Ps 78; Phil 2:6-11; Jn 3:13-17
Commentary
The Exaltation of Love in Mission
As the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross falls on a Sunday this year (the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time), it takes precedence over the Sunday Readings. This feast is of significant liturgical importance, being associated with the discovery of the Cross of Jesus and the construction and dedication of the Constantinian basilicas on Golgotha and at the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. At the heart of the Christian faith, that Cross is no longer just wood and nails, but has taken on a symbolic value as a sign of glory, salvation, and love pushed to the extreme. Today, we do not celebrate pain, but love that became a mission, that took upon itself the evil of the world and conquered it not with force, but with mercy. This emerges clearly from the readings planned for this festive Holy Mass.
1. The profound meaning of the lifting up of the bronze serpent
In the first reading, taken from the Book of Numbers, a curious and mysterious episode is presented: the people of Israel, tired and impatient in the desert, murmur against God and Moses. The people thus strayed spiritually and physically from the right path indicated by God, and He allowed them, in following their own path, to encounter poisonous snakes, that is, the consequences of their rejection of God. However, when the people repented and cried out for help, God commanded Moses to make a bronze snake and raise it on a pole. Anyone who looked at it, even if bitten, would be healed. What does all this mean?
It is not magic or superstition. The bronze serpent becomes a sign of faith and healing: it is not the metal that heals, but the grace of God who benevolently welcomes the act of trust of those who look up at the sign He has given. God does not remove the serpent from the desert, but offers the people a way to avoid dying from its bite.
Even in our lives, the “serpents” of sin, suffering, selfishness and despair do not disappear by magic. God, however, gives us a sign, a reference point, a way: to look up to the salvation that He Himself offers us. The raising up of the serpent, as reported in the Gospel, foreshadows the elevation of Jesus on the Cross, which in turn also depicts the exaltation of Jesus in glory to heaven at the right hand of the Father.
Today’s first message therefore emphasizes that during trials, in our daily struggles, we are not asked to pretend that everything is fine, nor to constantly look down at our wounds, but rather to always lift our gaze, with confident and persevering prayer, toward Jesus crucified, the divine Sign that God has given us. The invitation is to believe that God has given us hope even where there is pain.
2. The lifting up of the Son
In the Gospel of John, Jesus himself makes reference to this episode of the bronze serpent, interpreting it in a profound way: “And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”
Firstly, the biblical comparison is not so much about the serpent and the Son, but rather about the similar actions of being lifted up on the pole and on the wood of the cross.
Secondly, the key expression “must” is employed to denote the fulfilment of God’s plan, as illustrated by the teachings of Jesus to the two disciples of Emmaus, where the Son of Man is said to pass through all things to enter glory. The Cross, therefore, is not a hiccup along the way. It does not represent a defeat to be forgotten, but it is the raising up of the Son. It is His mission carried through to the end. Jesus came to love and save. He does so not by avoiding suffering, but by going through it.
We often think that loving means avoiding pain. Jesus shows us that to truly love means also accepting pain for the good of the other. There is no true love without gift. And there is no true mission without the cross, but a cross that saves, not destroys; that frees, not condemns.
On the Cross, Jesus is lifted up not to be glorified before the world, but to draw all people to Himself: it is the lifting up of a love that becomes visible, total, unconditional. This is the moment of the manifestation of divine “glory” to the world, that glory which is in reality the very essence of God, merciful and faithful in love.
3. All For and In Love
In his Letter to the Philippians, Saint Paul offers us one of the most moving passages in the New Testament: “Christ Jesus… emptied himself… becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.”And then he adds: “Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name.”
The true lifting up, the exaltation we celebrate today, is not that of power, strength, or human success, but rather the exaltation of Love that humbles itself, that gives itself, that serves. It is love that does not spare itself, that allows itself to be crucified for the love of others. Jesus did not go up on the Cross to show us how good he is at suffering, but He immolated Himself on the Cross as a propitiatory sacrifice for our reconciliation with God. In this way He shows us, on the one hand, the gravity of our sins and, on the other, the immensity of God’s love for us sinners.
And this is precisely the heart of the Gospel: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son…” And like God the Father, the Son also loved the world so much that he fulfilled the divine plan for the life of humanity in love and filial obedience. There is no greater love. There is no higher mission. Love became mission: it left heaven, took on our flesh, climbed onto the cross, and rose again… all for love.
In conclusion, the watchword is this: Live love in mission. The Cross teaches us that we truly live only when we love. And we truly love only when we are ready to give ourselves.
Today, the Exaltation of the Cross invites us not to be ashamed of our faith, but to live it courageously. It calls us not to flee from our daily crosses, but to live them as opportunities for love and self-giving. Above all, it calls us to be missionaries of Love wherever we are: in our families, at work, among our friends, in our communities. Lifting our eyes to the Cross, we learn to look at the world as God looks at it: with mercy, with tenderness, with hope.
Let us pray: Lord Jesus, you have shown us that true Love is not afraid of the Cross. Help us too to live love in mission: may our struggles not be a cause for complaint, but an opportunity for offering. May our crosses not crush us, but open us to compassion. And may our every gesture be done for love, with love, in Love. Amen.
Useful points to consider:
Pope Leo XIV, Angelus, Liberty Square – Piazza della Libertà (Castel Gandolfo), Sunday, 13 July 2025
[…] Brothers and sisters, let us look to Jesus! He shows us the meaning of authentic love for God and for others. It is a love that is generous, not possessive; a love that forgives without question; a love that reaches out and never abandons others. In Christ, God made himself a neighbour to each and every man and woman. That is why each of us can and should become a neighbour to all whom we meet. Imitating the example of Jesus, the Saviour of the world, we too are called to bring consolation and hope, above all to those who are experiencing discouragement and disappointment.
In order to live eternally, we do not need to cheat death, but to serve life, by caring for others in this, our time together. That is the supreme law that is prior to all society’s rules and gives them their meaning. […]
Pope Francis, Morning Mass in the Chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae, Homily, “Look at the crucifix in the light of redemption”, Tuesday, 31 March 2020
[…] Jesus lifted up: on the cross. Moses made a serpent and set it on a pole. Jesus will be lifted up like the serpent to bring salvation. But the core of the prophecy is that Jesus made Himself into sin for us. He did not sin; He made Himself sin. As St. Peter says in his letter, “He bore all of our sins in Himself” (cf. 1Pt 2:24) And so, when we gaze on the crucifix, we think about the Lord who suffers, and all of that is true. But let us pause a moment in order to arrive at the centre of that truth: at this moment You seem to be the greatest sinner. You made Yourself sin. He took upon Himself all of our sins, He annihilated Himself. The cross, it is true, is a torture: there was a vendetta by the doctors of the law who did not want Him. All of that is true. But the truth that comes from God is that He came into the world to take our own sins upon Himself to the point of making Himself into sin. All sin. Our sins are there.”
We need to make it a habit of looking at the crucifix in this light, which is the truest, it is the light of redemption. In Jesus made sin we see the utter defeat of Christ. He did not pretend to die, He did not pretend to suffer, alone, abandoned… “Father, why have you forsaken me?” (see Mt 27:46; Mk 15:34). A serpent: I am lifted up like a serpent, like that which is all sin. […]