September 14, 2025
John 3: 13-17
The cross is with us throughout our life’s journey. It is a sign of contradiction and a sign of hope. Genesis tells us that we have been made in God’s image. And, yet, our limited eyes and comprehension frequently prompt us to instead view God in our own image.
In Laudato Si, Pope Francis implores us to see God present within and throughout all of creation. Even psychiatrist, practitioner and researcher Dan Siegel of Los Angeles, CA devotes his life and teachings to foster the integration of the nine areas of human consciousness. The ninth area he discusses and guides his patients and students to, he names the “Generator Of Diversity”— GOD — the consciousness that God creates and nurtures the fullness and goodness of all diversity!
In our world we see many examples of the cross. In war-torn countries we see suffering, death and destruction: starvation in Gaza, Sudan and South Sudan; homes and hospitals destroyed in Ukraine and Palestine; man-made disasters in Sudan, Syria, urban ghettos. Even churches and schools do not have safety/sanctuary insured. With the media’s focus on such dire situations, many of us yearn for and work towards solutions, ways to address and repair the systemic injustices all around us. With the current authoritarian administrations overtaking many countries, we are told to live in fear and uncertainty. We complain that what is happening now is so different from what we expected.
Aren’t these life and death situations similar to what Jesus encountered in the Garden of Gethsemani and throughout the long hours of his passion? Isn’t that what you and I experience in the challenges to our health and well being and times when our human dignity is ignored or denied?
Our faith and beliefs assure us that God is present in such chaos and we strain to see how and where. We witness daily acts of courage and hope as doctors, nurses, journalists, first responders, international aide workers risk, (and all too often give) their lives. They embody God’s presence in our world. The sun, moon,and stars are God’s light. We are surrounded by the wonders of creation. When we pause, look around and see the gems of creation, we know God is present, embracing us in comfort and love.
Let us do whatever we can and follow Christ’s example of self- emptying :
“Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.”
How might we see with the eyes of God and embrace the crosses before us?
Our path has been marked out for us. Let us walk along it bravely, remembering that Jesus goes before us. – Saint Julie Billiart
John 3: 13-17
Jesus said to Nicodemus:
“No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man. 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.”
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.
The Gospel of the Lord
Meet Sister Catherine Waldron, SNDdeN
