One of the things that bring back memories are images.
It may be a photo, or a painting or a sculpture.
When images bring back good and warm memories, we treasure them and keep them.
But if an image makes us recall bad and traumatic memories, we will certainly discard and get rid of them.
But in the 1st reading, God instructed Moses to make an image of a fiery serpent and put it on a standard.
And when anyone who was bitten by a fiery serpent looks at that image, he shall live.
It sounds rather contradictory that the cause of the pain would be cured by looking at the image of what caused that pain.
But, in a way, it is to remind the people that it was because they sinned that the fiery serpents were sent to punish them.
In a similar way, we don’t like to admit to our sins or confess them.
But when we look at our sins, we are reminded how we have sinned and turned away from God.
We need to look from our sins to look at Jesus who will forgive our sins and heal us.
Let us look at Jesus on the Cross and may that stir us to repentance and bring us healing.