Gospel: September 14, 2026
September 14, 2026 (Monday)
Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
Psalter: Proper (Red)
Ps 78:1bc-2, 34-35, 36-37, 38
Do not forget the works of the Lord!
1st Reading: Numbers 21:4b-9
The people were discouraged by the journey and began to complain against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is neither bread nor water here and we are disgusted with this tasteless manna.” The Lord then sent fiery serpents against them. They bit the people and many of the Israelites died. Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, speaking against the Lord and against you. Plead with the Lord to take the serpents away.”
Moses pleaded for the people and the Lord said to him, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a standard; whoever has been bitten and then looks at it shall live.” So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a standard. Whenever a man was bitten, he looked toward the bronze serpent and he lived.
2nd Reading: Philippians 2:6-11
Though he was in the form of God, he did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking on the nature of a servant, made in human likeness, and, in his appearance, found, as a man.
He humbled himself by being obedient, to death, death on the cross. That is why God exalted him and gave him the name which outshines all names, so, that, at the name of Jesus all knees should bend in heaven, on earth and among the dead, and all tongues proclaim, that Christ Jesus is the Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Gospel: John 3:13-17
No one has ever gone up to heaven except the one who came from heaven, the Son of Man.
As Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
Yes, God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but may have eternal life. God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world; instead, through him the world is to be saved.
Reflection:
Let us not judge and pass judgment on others.
A clarification from Jesus: the Father did not send Him into the world to judge it but to save and grant eternal life to whoever believes in Him. Jesus is not a policeman who catches criminals to punish. He is a defender of the oppressed and even of people who sin. He seeks out sinners not to press them for the sin they have committed but to be forgiven and be given the opportunity to change their lives. This is also how Jesus wants us to treat our brothers and sisters who sin. Let us not judge and pass judgment on them. Let us help them find the right path and be saved.
