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by Rev. Fr. V.V. Paulose, Toronto, Canada
"And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the son of man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life." (John 3:14,15)
Do you have any healing effects by using symbols? Signs and symbols are part and parcel of all religions. We conceive an idea through symbols. Cross is the symbol of Christianity and it represents salvation and eternal life. Those who believe and live in salvation have therapeutic effects. Even the birds used to follow the sign of the Cross marked by Saint Francis of Assisi in the sky. A rebellious generation always despises and misuses the best of everything, even the crown symbol of Christianity - the Cross. When the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness, God sent a plague of snakes to punish the people for their rebellious attitudes. Those doomed to die from the snake bite could be healed by looking up at the bronze snake on the pole. In the same way, salvation happens when we look up to Jesus, believing that he will save us with the symbol of the Cross. There is a permanent museum for keeping the collection of mementos of love lost in Zagreb in Croatia. Those who visit the museum comment that all the exhibits have the Catharsis in it. A Berlin woman submitted the axe that she had used to chop up her lover's furniture after he left her for another woman. She says, "Everyday I axed one piece of his furniture. I kept the remains there, as an expression of my inner condition. The more his room filled with chopped furniture, the better I felt in my soul. Two weeks after she left, he came back for the furniture. It was really razed into small heaps and fragments of wood. He took that trash and left my apartment for good. The axe was promoted to a therapy instrument." Symbols are instruments of healings for those who use it the way it was intended to be used.
Jesus, we remember your love when we look at the Cross. Let the Cross be a reminder of your great sacrifice and salvation you brought to humanity. May those who look at the Cross with faith be saved. Let us be faithful to you and to our neighbours. All we ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.
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