N
ncjohn
Guest
Today’s first reading is the familiar story of the Israelites complaining in the desert, only to be set upon by saraph serpents as punishment from God. In His mercy however, God has Moses mount a saraph on a pole and anyone who gazes on it is cured. usccb.org/nab/readings/031108.shtml
How often do we mimic the Israelites ourselves though! We ask why we were delivered from sin when the life around us is still so filled with suffering and hardship. At least when we were living in sin we didn’t have to feel like we were trying so hard for seemingly no benefit and we could feel like we were having a good time.
Yet once again God relented, raising up on the pole not a serpent, but His only begotten Son, that those who gaze upon him might be healed. It’s often hard to keep that gaze focused when the serpents begin biting at our ankles, but if we do we can find the peace and healing that no other source can bring.
It would do us all a bit of good, when we find ourselves beset by whatever the serpents might be in our lives, to forego the complaining and instead go sit ourselves down in front of the one mounted on the pole.
How often do we mimic the Israelites ourselves though! We ask why we were delivered from sin when the life around us is still so filled with suffering and hardship. At least when we were living in sin we didn’t have to feel like we were trying so hard for seemingly no benefit and we could feel like we were having a good time.
Yet once again God relented, raising up on the pole not a serpent, but His only begotten Son, that those who gaze upon him might be healed. It’s often hard to keep that gaze focused when the serpents begin biting at our ankles, but if we do we can find the peace and healing that no other source can bring.
It would do us all a bit of good, when we find ourselves beset by whatever the serpents might be in our lives, to forego the complaining and instead go sit ourselves down in front of the one mounted on the pole.