Facing Our Serpents - Fr. Gerry Creedon Homily 9/14/2003

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Recognition is the crucial step in the path to redemption.

This is a summary of a Fr. Gerry Creedon homily delivered at St. Charles on September 14, 2003, Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross

"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." John 3:14-15

THE PEOPLE OF GOD had been brought up from Egypt, their place of captivity and oppression. However they found themselves in the wilderness without water, disgusted by the wretched food. When they complained they were sent serpents who bit them. Moses lifted up the bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole. When they looked at the serpent they were healed.

Only though looking at the serpent, the source of their pain were they healed.

We tend to deny the negative. We used to present the Mass as the unbloody reenactment of the bloody sacrifice of Calvary. Now we speak more of the banquet of resurrection. The corpus on the crucifix recalled the cruel reality of his death. The plain cross presents a risen lord. What we need is a balance: the death and resurrection of Christ, both his dying and rising..

In our families we hide our dysfunctions and pretend that the elephant under the table does not exist. When your friend has a drinking problem, it is easier to ignore the abuse than to risk the truth.

Johnny Cash died last week with the love and appreciation of so many different people. Back in '67 he became involved with a destructive spiral of alcohol and drugs. He climbed into a dark cave wanting to die. Confronted with darkness, he came to realize that his death and his life were on God's time. The light at the edge of the cave brought the redemption that would become a central theme in his life and music.

A young man who was recently married shared how an unexpected and life-threatening illness transformed his journey. He had only been dating a short time, and felt he had to share his newly discovered chronic condition with his sweetheart, so that she would have the freedom to move on with her life. To his surprise she wanted to stay with him. They had learned at a young age and quickly the meaning of the words: I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad , in sickness and in health. Their love would be, not for a moment or a season, but strong as death.

In this Eucharist let us have the courage to look at the crucifix, the death, the destructiveness in our lives. Recognition is the crucial step in the path to redemption. Let us not deny the crosses, let us bring them hopefully to the crucified and risen Savior.