Memorial of Saint John Chrysostom, bishop and Doctor of the Church

(I Timothy 1:15-17; Luke 6:43-49)

(This homilette is written for the sixtieth anniversary reunion of Fenwick High School, Oak Park, Illinois).

George Weigel is a American Catholic intellectual who has written a commentary on Church affairs for almost 50 years.  His most recent column resonated with some of my concerns about social issues.  He had just returned from a summer teaching in Europe and could not believe the amount of hot air created by the Cracker Barrell logo issue.  For any of us who may not be aware of it, Cracker Barrel briefly removed from its logo the image of a white man and was criticized for caving in to wokery.  Weigel called the issue “absurd” and listed multiple reasons.

Weigel wrote that the Ukraine is being brutalized by Russia and looks to the U.S. for support while the U.S. obsesses over the Cracker Barrel logo.  Additionally, the Scholastic Aptitude Test designers have decided that “It’s asking too much of a generation whose attention spans have been formed by, X, Facebook, and Instagram to comprehend a 750 word text … and now ask wannabe college students to demonstrate mastery of 25-150 texts.” Meanwhile Americans obsess over the Cracker Barrel logo.  The Centers for Disease Control reports that one in four American teenagers self-identify as “LGBTQ” while the American Pediatric Association protests over legal restraints on the mutilation of adolescent and Americans are up in arms over the Cracker Barrel logo.  Weigel lists a number of other follies prominent today, but one more will do for here. Texas and California are taking gerrymandering to a new extreme of injustice that only undermines confidence in democracy and people fixate on the Cracker Barrel logo.

In today’s gospel Jesus says that “a good tree does not bear rotten fruit.”  We 1965 graduates of Fenwick have been nurtured by our parents, our teachers, and many other influencers to be good trees.  We must continue to bear good fruit by passing on the wisdom we have gained to the present generation of young men and women.  To be sure, we at 78 years of age are not the primary shapers of their lives.  But we can and should model and support just ways of living in the world.  Every year it’s more obvious that our society has become more narcissistic, more intolerant, and more careless.  We should do what we can to return the world to its proper orbit of peace with justice.  We have much to be grateful for.  Let us express that gratitude to both God and neighbor by coaching young men and women to reconsider what Christ has taught in the gospel.  We might also mention what he said about his judgment for eternity.

Sunday, September 14, 2025

 

Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

(Numbers 21:4-9; Philippians 2:6-11; John 3:13-17)

There is a charming legend about the discovery of the cross of Christ by Saint Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine. Unfortunately, there is no historical data to support this legend. It doesn't really matter, however, because today we don't honor so much Jesus’ cross as Jesus, the crucified one. Today we celebrate how the Son of God humbled himself twice, as the second reading tells us, for our salvation. He did so first when he took on mortal flesh and second when he suffered the horrible death of crucifixion.

It is notable that in our celebration we do not refer to the testimonies of the crucifixion in the four Gospels. Rather, we read a short passage near the beginning of the Gospel according to John and an obscure episode in the Book of Numbers. The Gospel in particular indicates the significance of this monumental event of history.

In the Gospel, Jesus is in dialogue with Nicodemus, a Pharisee and Jewish leader.  He represents the Pharisaic Judaism that remained after the destruction of the Temple in the year seventy. Of course, Jesus speaks for the Christians who were being persecuted at that time. This dialogue or debate shows how Christianity is rooted in Judaism, although it has emerged as superior to the old faith.

Jesus cites the passage in Numbers where the Israelites wander through the desert, tired and distressed. Instead of being grateful to God for having rescued them from slavery, they complain about the hardships they endure: the forty years they have traveled while God formed them as His holy people and the provision of manna, the "wretched food" in the reading, which has sustained them. To correct their indignation, God sends them venomous serpents that kill those they bite. When the people repent of their ingratitude, God sends them relief. Out of love for His people, He commands Moses to make a bronze serpent and set it up on a pole. So those who are bitten and see him continue to live.

Now Jesus predicts his own lifting up on the cross as similar to the bronze serpent lifted up on the pole. He says that anyone who sees his lifting up will possess eternal life. We should note the difference between the two lifting ups. In the wilderness, with the lifting up of the bronze serpent, the Israelites receive only an extension of mortal life. With Jesus' being lifted up, those who observe him will receive eternal life—that is, life with God without end.

Jesus has two referents in mind for his lifting up. First, he refers to his crucifixion. Second, he refers to his resurrection from the dead. Both events in the Gospel according to John are moments of glory. Of course, his resurrection represents his victory over death, but how is his crucifixion glorious? Unlike the other evangelists, John reports how the crucified Jesus is surrounded by his family and friends, mocked by no one, and utters efficacious pronouncements like, "Woman, here is your son..." This glorious death is confirmed when Nicodemus himself, who debates with Jesus in this gospel, brings enough spices to bury him like a pharaoh.

Perhaps the most glorious aspect of Jesus' being lifted up on the cross is the universality of the offer it makes. It extends not only to Jews, not only to the pious or the wealthy, but to the entire world. It is true that those who observe him being lifted up must accept that this act of humiliation shows Jesus as their Savior. Nevertheless, everyone has the possibility of salvation because, as the gospel puts it, "God so loved the world."