4th Sunday of Lent, Cycle B
St. Stephen, Bradshaw, MD
Sat: 4:30pm, 6:00pm
Sun: 7:00am, 8:00am, 9:15am, 10:45am, 10:45am, 12:00pm
March 18, 2012
Two Powerful Symbols of Healing
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
The Caduceus
Probably all of us have seen the symbol of the medical profession.
The symbol is a stick with a snake or snakes curled around it. It is called the Caduceus [CA-DU-SEE-US].
For physicians, this is a symbol of their commitment to healing. Its origin is in the Old Testament and Jesus refers to it in today’s gospel.
Origins of the Caduceus
Thirteen hundred years before Jesus’ birth, God’s people, the Israelites, were freed from their slavery in Egypt. This happened in the event called the Exodus.
The problem with gaining their freedom was that the Israelites now found themselves wandering in the desert and life was becoming very difficult.
They soon grew tired of their harsh conditions and began grumbling against God. In effect, they turned their back on God and their faith in him.
The biblical account says that God then punished them by sending a plague of serpents to bite them. As a result many of the Israelites died.
Eventually, the people came to their senses, admitted their sinfulness, and turned back to God.
It was then that God told Moses to make an image of a serpent out of bronze and mount it on a pole.
God promised that all who looked at the image of the serpent would be healed or saved, and that is what happened.
Jesus’ 2-Fold Use of the Caduceus
This background helps us to appreciate the Caduceus – the serpent curled around a stick – as a symbol of healing.
In today’s gospel, Jesus refers to this symbol and raises two questions concerning it. He says, “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.”
The two critical questions he raises for his followers are:
(1) What is the meaning of the symbol of the serpent that was lifted up?
(2) What is the healing that comes from looking at the Son of Man lifted up?
The Meaning of the Snake
First, what does the symbol of the serpent mean for us? I would suggest that the poisonous, physical bites of the serpents are a sign of the caustic, verbal biting of the people against God.
And so, when God directs the people to look at the bronze serpent mounted on the pole, he is really directing them to look at their own inner poison, their own unfaithfulness, their own rebelliousness.
When God says that those who look at the bronze serpent will be healed, he is really saying that those who look at the wrong that they have done will be healed.
The great lesson here is that we need to confront the evil that we do in order to be freed of it. Sweeping it under the rug, justifying it, or denying it just won’t do.
To be reconciled with God we need to own up to our personal sinfulness.
The Healing of the Cross
So much for the snake and my sins!
Let’s now look at what the healing is that comes from our looking at the Son of Man lifted up, that is, Jesus on the cross.
By being lifted up on the cross, Jesus shows me God’s love, that he pays the price for my sins, that instead of turning my back on him I am called to do an about face and turn my face to him.
And face-to-face, eyeball-to-eyeball I see him and acknowledge him as my Lord, my Savior, my companion on the journey.
I come to know him through prayer and presence and thus am enabled to make choices consistent with his values of love, acceptance, and forgiveness.
I feast on his very flesh and blood and I become what I eat. I become his credible presence in my community, my parish, and my world.
Conclusion
To sum up, Jesus refers to the serpent on the pole as a symbol of our own sinfulness and then adds to it our looking upon the cross and experiencing that it is Jesus who heals and saves us.
Our Catholic tradition is rich with the teaching of admitting my sins and looking on the face of Jesus to be drawn into a life-giving relationship.
That good news is affirmed for us today.
No comments:
Post a Comment