The Bronze Serpent

Welcome to our daily rosary meditation. Let's begin in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. And let's continue our walk through the Old Testament. I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our hands now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death amen Hail Mary full of grace the Lord is with thee blessed art thou among women blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus Holy Mary mother of God pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death amen Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit As he was in the beginning as now and ever shall be world without end amen Our first mystery There's a fascinating episode that occurs during the Israelites wandering in the desert. It reveals something profound about the way God works. It's the story of the bronze serpent. The Israelites begin complaining again. But this time, it's not just about lacking food. They're complaining about the very food God miraculously provided for them. So God allows poisonous serpents to overrun the camp, serpents whose bite is deadly. And what's the result? Repentance. The people came to Moses and said, We have sinned in complaining against the Lord. Then the Lord showed mercy, and he instructed Moses to make a serpent out of bronze and mount it on a crossbar attached to a pole that he can lift high enough where everyone can see it. And after that, whenever an Israelite was bitten by one of the serpents, all he needed to do was look at the bronze serpent and he would be healed. In other words, God turns the consequences of sin into the remedy for sin. He takes what harms us and makes it the instrument of our healing. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our hands, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us and earns man at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us and orders now in the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us and orders now in the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus Amen Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee blessed art thou among women blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus Holy Mary, Mother of God pray for us in her exactly the light幸生, young and of the earth Amen Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee blessed art thou among women blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus Holy Mary, Mother of God like the son of a woman who's sisi a man nowmore mean. Holy Mary, Mother of God, prays for us in her in naar now and at the hour of our death? Amen. Holy Mary, Full of Grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb. That is the fruit of you, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, prays for us in her in snow and at the hour our death. Amen. O Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, as now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those most in need of thy mercy. Our second meditation. The poisonous serpents in the camp were the direct result of the Israelites' rebellion. The physical poison was the outward effect of their spiritual poison. But look at what followed. The physical disaster led to repentance and return to God. So the venomous serpents became both the consequence and the cure for Israel's sin. Likewise, the bronze serpent itself. God used the very image of the disaster to bring about healing. He was the serpent that became the cure for the serpent's bite. That's how God works. It's not enough for him merely to defeat evil. He overcomes evil by turning it against itself and making it serve his supremely good purposes. God doesn't just tolerate evil, nor does he crush it by sheer force. He conquers it artfully, causing it to be the means of its own destruction. And in this way, his victory is absolute. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil Amen Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our hands now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus Holy Mary, Mother of God Pray for us in her теперь now and at the hour of our death Amen Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee Blessed art thou among women Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus Holy Mary, Mother of God Pray for us in her Next now and at the hour of our death Amen Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee Blessed art thou among women Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus Holy Mary, Mother of God Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, as now and ever shall be. World without end. Amen. O my Jesus. Forgive us our sins. Save us from the fires of hell. lead all souls to heaven especially those most in need of thy mercy our third meditation when jesus speaks to nicodemus he explicitly compares himself to the bronze serpent saying just as moses lifted up the bronze serpent in the desert so must the son of man be lifted up that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. That's right. If the bronze serpent is the sign that God brings order out of disorder, then Christ raised on the cross is the supreme expression of God's unfathomable genius. The bronze serpent was the sign of physical sickness lifted up by God to bring about physical healing. Christ on the cross is where all evil, physical and moral, is concentrated in a single moment, the supreme abomination of torturing pure goodness to death. And yet, this is how all evil is healed. Christ, lifted up on the cross, opens the way to spiritual healing, to resurrection in a glorified body, and to eternal life. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our midst now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in her uprights now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee. Blessed art Thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in her uprights now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee. Blessed art Thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for our sinners now and at the hour of our death, amen. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for our sinners now and at the hour of our death, amen. Full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our hands now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our hands now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in her hands, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in her hands, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in her in this now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, as now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. O my Jesus. Forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those most in need of thy mercy. Our fourth meditation. The path to salvation lies in recognizing that God can bring good out of evil. out of any evil. He brought repentance out of a snake's poison. He brought the antidote to a snake's poison out of a snake. And he brought the salvation of the world and the defeat of death out of the vicious murder of his dearly beloved son. Do you understand what that means? It means that no matter how awful things are, no matter what the situation, God will use it to triumph. Evil is always evil. It's always something to be avoided, to be shunned, something we should strive against. But God is always God. He's always stronger than evil, and not only stronger but so creative that he will orchestrate things so that any sin and misfortune will contribute to his saving plan God is winning. No matter what the dysfunction and suffering and brokenness, God is going to bring the greatest possible good out of every imaginable evil. Be that suicide, horrible addictions, hideous illnesses, or the debilitating mental and emotional problems, or even war. God is winning. All those serpents are no match for him. They're no match for the bronze serpent he's crafting. And all that sickness and suffering and death are no match for the king of victory. who hangs upon the cross. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed be the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God. Pray for us.'seer knows, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary. Full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed be the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God. Pray for us.!'Seer knows, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary. Full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed be the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God. pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary. Full of grace the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary. Mother of God. Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary. Full of grace the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary. Mother of God. Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary. Full of grace the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb. Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, as now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. O my Jesus. Forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those most in need of thy mercy. Our fifth meditation. We have to follow God's example and use the suffering that comes from sin as the antidote to sin. Now, I can speak for myself. So many of my sufferings are really the result of my own sin. So many of my grievances and resentments come from my pride. For so many people, our financial anxieties come from buying too big a house or spending irresponsibly in other ways. So many of our fragilities come from overindulging ourselves in food or drink or sex or entertainments. So this Lent. One of the main goals has to be to accept whatever sufferings come our way and not to complain. When the Israelites complained, things got worse. But when they turned their sufferings into opportunities of repentance, things got better. and we can be bronze serpents to other people as well. By patiently enduring our own sufferings, we can be examples to them. And by offering up our sufferings with Christ on His cross, we can assist in saving the world and our loved ones from the effects of sin the way He did. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us and art and not the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us and art and not the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our hands now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our hands now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our hands now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Ho Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us in our ass naw and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our hands now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, as now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. O my Jesus. Forgive us our sins. Save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those most in need of thy mercy. Saint Michael the archangel defend us in battle be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil May God rebuke him we humbly pray and do thou O Prince of the Heavenly Host by the power of God cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. So what caught your attention with that meditation, Teresa? This one I think might be slightly difficult to talk about because I feel like There's a lot of, you don't want to talk about things in the wrong light, but this idea that, I mean, often we need to hit rock bottom to turn our lives around, but we need consequences to turn our lives around. And that often those things transform the original sin that caused those consequences is so interesting. It's why it's like, it's beautiful that through AA, people, one of the steps is to help someone else who is an alcoholic and to work in partnership with someone. there's I was thinking even again these are the harder subjects to talk about but I know so many stories of like young people who struggled so much with lust but had a child at a very young age and it takes them out of love for themselves and the natural consequences of their actions leads them to a life of loving purely for another living purely for another and there are so many things that come like this, but it's dangerous when our society is so focused on removing the consequences. And then we never actually give ourselves the chances, that opportunity of the bronze serpent, those things that would save us from the thing itself. One of the most important human and Christian principles is this, accept the consequences of your actions. If you accept the consequences of your actions, they become your means to transformation. I even think of the most beautiful stories I've heard of people's conversions and the things that brought them so close to God. Not because the sin itself was good, but they experienced some great sin in their life, something that they had such guilt and regret and pain remembering, but not only did it turn their life around completely seeing how far they'd fallen, but it gives them the opportunity to really humble themselves and speak with others and be so vulnerable. And you see the real mercy of God and you, instead of this reaction that I've done something so terrible, I can never come back to God, you see this great valor of true conquering of sin that you don't get when you just shove those emotions down. But when you see those real witnesses of the people who have really, thinking back to even like Bartolo Longo, being a Satanist, and then coming all the way back to such a love and passion for God, that original action isn't good. But like this bronze serpent, it was the thing that brought him closest to God because he fell so far. Yeah. Yeah. This is, it's such a good point. I wish I would have put it in the meditation, but thankfully. It's what these conversations are for. You know, this is the beauty of the conversation. This is one of the great benefits. And I'm so sad for people when they don't take the steps to have these conversations because this is what happens. we have a meditation. I reflect on it. You reflect on it. You grasp a different aspect of reality than I grasp. And then when you share with me, you share your insight. Not that I think you really encompass so much of it in the meditation. I think I'm hardly adding to it. No, you are adding to it. Your insight then enables me to have a greater insight. That's the beauty of conversation. and the result is just it's friendship. This is really what we want everyone to do. This is really the crux of spiritual friendship, that you're both thinking about good things, things of God. Then you can come together and talk about them together and you both get a greater insight. You both grow closer to God. And that's really front and center of our mission with this movement of the Holy Family. It's to foster spiritual friendship. It's also, I think, very indicative of the difference between Christian culture and secular culture that we have so much to talk about and shared experience to be able to discuss with others. Whereas I think the reason we see such an attachment to the internet is you feel like it's your lifeline, almost like an umbilical cord to society to be able to connect with others because you can reference this trend or that news story or this video and but it stops there there's not much else to discuss other than repetition and I think the beauty of Christian culture is we can go to mass and hear a reading or a homily and there's so much shared information that we take in and we can discuss but I should probably maybe my resolution from this is to take those opportunities and to I always get brunch or dinner or something after Mass with friends, but I should probably be better about discussing the homily, discussing the readings, discussing my reflections, because the next step is always to then share it with others. But not complaining about the homily, because then you're like the Israelites and the serpents are going to come. But I was talking to... I have very few homilies with anything to complain about. We're very, very blessed. We are blessed at our parish. I was speaking with a very intelligent, faithful woman last night, and she was just sharing what a struggle it is to develop these types of friendships. And it can be extremely hard for a lot of people. The Holy Spirit, we could say, is the bond of friendship in the Trinity. The Holy Spirit is the bond of love and communion between the Father and the Son. And so if you're out there and you're struggling with loneliness or to find this spiritual friendship, really ask the Holy Spirit to do it for you and then pay attention to how the Holy Spirit prompts you and rely on the Holy Spirit for the courage to invite somebody. I will say my greatest friends are friends that I couldn't have made by my own will. but we do forget to pray for those friends and i think that's the only way to find them as well as being aware taking those opportunities but i think asking for the holy spirit's help also helps you to be more aware and in the end if we we can't wait around we have to take the initiative and the risk, but it's worth it. So I love your point, and I think it's an excellent resolution. Accept the consequences of our actions, and they become the means to our transformation. Well, thanks for the insight. Thank you for the meditation. Let's be apostles of friendship, good conversation, and the rosary. Share this with others. Thank you.