Weapons of torment do not have the final say

['Victor Cancino', 'More Victor Cancino', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Where Img', 'Height Auto Max-Width', 'Vertical-Align Bottom .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar'] America Magazine 2025-09-11 00:00:00

The use of this striking color is familiar for services like Palm Sunday that commemorate the passion of Christ. Red is also used for martyrs to symbolize the blood they spilled for the sake of the faith. This is how this Sunday’s Gospel passage applies the bronze serpent to Jesus’ passion. The lifting up of Jesus on the cross was converted from an experience of torment to an instrument of salvation that leaves sin behind on the cross. This Sunday’s Gospel passage comes from a highly symbolic portion of John’s Gospel call the Dialogue with Nicodemus.