"We have sinned in complaining against the LORD and you. Pray the LORD to take the serpents from us." // Numbers 21:7
It all happened at once. I stepped through the door as the Sister in front of me turned, pointed, and yelled, “SNAKE!” I did not hesitate. I took a flying leap with my habit streaming behind me to the middle of the garage, froze in fear, and yelled, “Kill it, kill it, kill it . . . ” Our dialogue preceded thusly:
Sister #1: We don’t need to kill it.
Sister #2: Sister, I think it’s a rattlesnake!
Sister #1: I don’t hear a rattle . . .
Sister #2 grabs a shovel and pushes the button for the garage door opener.
Snake: ::RATTLE::
Sister #1: Kill it, kill it, kill it!
It was terrifyingly comedic and Sister #2, who prevailed over the snake, swiftly relieving it of its head, felt triumphantly Marian for some time afterward!
If it’s not already abundantly clear, I hate snakes with a passion not unlike that of Indiana Jones! I identify readily with the Israelites’ cry for Moses to, “Pray the Lord take the serpents from us!” (Numbers 21:7).
The way they curl in on themselves and hide in dark corners, just waiting to strike when you least expect it, there is indeed something sinister there. It is no wonder that the remedy the Lord prescribed was to mount a serpent on a pole (see Numbers 21:8). Make it known, show it off, do not let it be hidden.
Sister, today we celebrate the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, the triumph of light over darkness, life over death, grace over sin. Today we gaze on the Lord stretched out before us to save us from the serpents of sin that curl in the hidden places of our hearts.
What serpents lie in your heart that need to be mounted on a pole today, consumed in the light of grace, and crushed by ignominious glory of the cross? My prayer for you today is that the Lord will take the serpents from your heart. Looking upon the Cross today, I pray you live, “remembering that God is [your] rock, and the Most High God [your] redeemer”(Psalm 78:35).
Sister Maria Fatima grew up in Rhode Island and entered the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist in 2005. She holds a MA in Theology from the Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity. Sister is in her eleventh year of enlightening middle school minds and drawing hearts to Jesus while teaching religion and history. She currently resides at the motherhouse in Ann Arbor, MI, having previously taught in Texas, Florida, and Ohio. She is a contributing author to our Lent devotional All She Had.
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