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Here are some of the themes that we find in the Mass Readings for the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.
1st Reading – Numbers 21:4b-9
Filled with impatience, the people complain against God and Moses about the wretched food.In punishment God sends saraph serpents that bite the people and many die.After the people pray for forgiveness, Moses makes a bronze serpent which he fixes on a pole, and those that gaze upon it will live.“Do not forget the works of the Lord!”The psalm recalls God’s might, and how the people often strayed.2nd Reading – Philippians 2:6-11
Jesus “empties himself” and takes on our human form and weakness, even to death on a cross.Because of this, God exalted him, and every tongue confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord.Jesus tells Nicodemus that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son…!”Mass Readings – Exaltation of the Holy Cross (#638)