Greeting
Praise to God our Father, who loved us so much that he gave us his only Son, so that all who believe in him may have eternal life. May Jesus fill us with his life and be with you always. R/ And also with you.
Introduction
Crosses are always hard to carry and we are tempted to grumble and rebel in the pains and trials of life. But Jesus went ahead of us: he bore the cross for us and died on it, then he rose from the dead. God is stronger than death, and the foolishness and scandal of the cross has saved us from sin and death. The cross was Jesus' way to victory. For every disciple of Christ, it is the way to life and resurrection. Let us join Jesus in this Eucharist and celebrate with him the sacrifice of the cross.
Penitential Act
How do we take crosses? Do we bear them with Christ? Is the Lord's cross to us a scandal or our hope and salvation? Let us examine ourselves before the Lord. (PAUSE)
Lord, you saved us by your cross, yet crosses embarrass us, yours and ours. We easily revolt against them. Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Jesus Christ, you humbled yourself to bring us compassion and pardon, yet we seek honors and success. Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.
Lord, the cross was your way to glory and we give a place of honor to your cross in our homes but not in our lives. Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Have mercy on us, Lord, forgive us again and again; help us to bear our crosses with faith and love and lead us to everlasting life. R/ Amen.
Opening Prayer Let us pray to God that we may learn to bear our cross with his Son (PAUSE)
Lord, God of loyalty, we are constantly under the threat of contesting our dependence on you and of blaming you for the evil in the world. 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. Give us the strength to follow all the way your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen. Commentary
The seraph was mounted on a pole and the people were told to look at it-to look at what had bitten them. And they were healed. This bronze serpent is seen as an image of Jesus on the Cross. But Jesus went to the cross, under the burden of the law and of people's hatred. He took it upon himself to live the way of God truthfully and to die clinging to God and being obedient to God's will, even if that meant being rejected and killed. Jesus was the fullness of God, God in our flesh and blood, and he humbled himself to come and live with us as a human being, dying with us, even dying on a cross as the least of us. Somehow this mystery of the incarnation of God is what we are to become-we, our flesh and blood in Jesus, are to become the Body of Christ given in love to the Father in the power of the Spirit. Our humanness is to become the holiness of God. This is our salvation. We are loved and given the very life of God in Jesus. Does it feel like Lent? Monastic Lent began on this day and the liturgical calendar reflects this still. It is time to look upon our God, upon the cross, and kiss the symbol of our life and recognize that we are made in the sign of the cross.
Alternative
The feast of the Triumph of the Cross marks the dedication of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in 335 CE. On this feast, we are called upon to meditate on the salvific mystery of the Cross. The Israelites who were bitten by poisonous snakes looked up to the metal image of the fiery serpent on the standard and lived. Similarly, anyone bitten by the poisonous snakes of sin, who looks up to the living Christ on the Cross, shall not die, but live. It is God’s will that everyone shall be saved. But we have the freedom of choice to look toward the Cross or away from it. The choice is ours; so are the consequences. Take a few minutes today to look at a cross and meditate on it. Keep gazing. What do you find there? Who is there? What happens to you as you keep gazing?
Intercessions
God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son to save us and bring us life by his death and resurrection. Let us pray to Jesus for all who suffer and let us say: R/ Lord, save us by your cross. - For those whose life lacks direction, that they may discover Christ the way, let us pray: R/ Lord, save us by your cross. - For those whose ideals have faded, that they may see and accept the novelty of life and constantly renew themselves, let us pray: R/ Lord, save us by your cross. - For the perennial losers of their personal struggles against the forces of evil, that they may trust in Christ, whose grace is mightier than sin and death, let us pray: R/ Lord, save us by your cross. - For those who are lonely, deserted, or shut up within themselves, that they may accept the companionship of Christ and through him open themselves to others, let us pray: R/ Lord, save us by your cross. - For all of us, that we may learn from our Lord himself to bear our crosses in patience and humility, that in some way they may bring life to us and to whoever is tired and discouraged, let us pray: R/ Lord, save us by your cross. - For this community, that with Jesus our Savior it may be poor and serving and open to all people and all needs, let us pray: R/ Lord, save us by your cross. Lord Jesus Christ, your cross remains a mystery to us, as does all pain and want. We rely on your word and example that your cross is a way to joy and freedom. Turn our crosses into bearers of happiness and life, now and forever. R/ Amen.
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord God, with this bread and this wine we celebrate the saving death of your Son. In moments when suffering strikes and when we find it hard to bear, give us the strength, Lord God, not to murmur and to contest but to accept that it is your way to glory, even if we do not understand fully. We ask you for this courage through Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
Introduction to the Eucharistic Prayer
Remember that in this and every Eucharist we celebrate the sacrifice of the cross by which Jesus brought us forgiveness and life. Let us thank the Father for it and offer ourselves with Jesus our Lord, that we may overcome evil with him.
Introduction to the Lord's Prayer
Grateful for his saving love, we pray to our Father in heaven in the words of Jesus, our Savior: R/ Our Father...
Deliver Us
Deliver us, Lord, from every evil and forgive us the sins which caused your Son's death on the cross. Help us to join our crosses to his; give us courage and patience in life, as we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ. R/ For the kingdom...
Invitation to Communion
This is the Lamb of God who died on the cross to take our sins away. Happy are we to be invited to eat his bread of strength. R/ Lord, 1 am not worthy...
Prayer after Communion
God, our Lord and Father, we know that you have made us for joy and happiness, yet humiliation and death was the price which your Son had to pay. Let us never be ashamed of his cross or proclaim a painless Christianity, for we trust you when you call us to bear witness to you the way you want us to, through Jesus Christ, your Son and Lord. R/ Amen.
Blessing
We ourselves have been marked with the sign of the cross as people saved by a serving Lord. On account of the cross, we have to learn to forgive, to bear one another's burdens and to accept the realities of life as people of hope and trust, with the blessing of almighty God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.
Let us go in the peace of Christ. R/ Thanks be to God.
