If you really love me . . . . Have you ever been asked by a loved one to exaggerate your accomplishments or qualities in order to impress their colleagues or friends? It can be heartbreaking, because it can feel as if they do not accept you as you are. However, you should have never to pretend in order to prove your love to another person. You do not have to act like someone different in order to be lovable. Real love always prefer the truth. He loves you and accepts you just as you are. Rejoice that he brings out the best in you ---- who you were truly created to be ---- and that you never have to hide yourself from him. Be thankful that real love is about truth. "Your love is ever before me, and I walk continually in your truth." Just As You Are.♥
I am not sure that I exist, actually. I am all the writers that I have read, all the people that I have met, all the women that I have loved ---- all the cities that I have visited, all my ancestors . . . . Perhaps I would have liked to be my father, who wrote and had the decency of not publishing. Nothing, nothing, my friend ---- what I have told you : I am not sure of anything, I know nothing . . . . Can you imagine that I not even know the date of my death?
~ Jorge Luis Borges ~
There is something prosaic and shallow about the listeners of Jesus. They are very literal people, paralyzed by the immediacy of what is before their physical eyes. They simply cannot see beyond the physicality of Jesus into the immense possibilities of Christ. Thus they confuse the meaning of death or age that Jesus speaks of. No wonder they pick up the stones in their hands. In total contrast to these people is Abraham. Abraham has the capacity to imagine, see beyond the literalness and limitations of the physical world and his own physical self into the possibilities of God. In other words, he walks easy on the road of faith. He understands the language of God, and God finds it easy to converse with him. How would it be between God and me ---- you? Do we talk and hear the same language?♥
~Gen17:3-9/Jn8:51-59~
Compassion :
You may be thinking, "There is a lot of hurting people out there. I can't help them all!" If, however, one hurting person crossed your path and reached out to you in need, could you stop long enough to hear what he ---- she hears, to feel what he ---- she feels, and to be there in his ---- her time of need? That is where compassion begins, my dear friend.♥
He has risen! Whenever we recite the Creed, we profess our faith that "On the third day, he rose again from the dead." We celebrate our faith with particular joy on Sundays, because each Sunday reminds us of the great victory over death that Jesus won Easter Sunday. This is the joyful declaration that makes Easter Sunday the beginning of a whole new era. "This is the day the Lord has made ---- let us rejoice and be glad!" Happy Easter!♥
♥ Happy Easter! ♥
Alleluia! He is Risen! With great joy, we celebrate the Lord's triumph over sin and death! He has made it possible for us to "pass over" from sin and death, into glory and eternal life. "It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me." Making a communion with the Risen Lord in our Hearts, becoming one Mind, one Heart, one Spirit with Him.♥
Reflecting on Jesus' descent among the dead can strengthen our faith in the limitless mercy of God. He does not abandon anyone in hell ---- he will go to the farthest and most remote place to rescue even one wandering sheep. Even when we find ourselves in the spiritual death of sin, even if we fall into the most unspeakable mortal sin, we are not beyond the mercy of God. The famous line of Betsie, the sister of Corrie ten Boom who survived the hellish horrors of a Nazi, death camp, reminds us that, "There is no pit so deep that God's love is deeper still." ---- "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."♥
One of the worst burdens any person can carry is the weight of guilt.This is the burden that has crushed the human family since the time of our first parents. We have offended God himself ---- our sins our immeasurable, and our debts unpayable. We belong to the family of Judas and Caiaphas and Barabbas. With each of our sins, we have, like the guard in the palace of the high priest, crowned Jesus with thorns. Who could ever take on the full weight of our guilt? Only God can restore the balance of justice. But since the punishment we deserve for sin is death, and God cannot die, it would seem that we are left helplessly crushed. God, however, comes to our aid by taking on our human nature. The Master becomes the Servant. At Christmas, he who is without beginning was born. On Good Friday, he who is immortal died. "Behold the wood of the Cross, on which hung the salvation of the world."♥
"He was pierced through our faults, crushed for our sins. On him lies a punishment that brings us peace, and through his wounds we are healed. We had all gone astray like sheep, each taking his own way, and the Lord burdened him with the sins of all of us." This prophetic description captures exactly what happens today, on Good Friday. Jesus is the suffering Servant, and we are the sinners who look on in astonishment ---- at first in distress at how badly he is treated, but later with gratitude for what has been done for us. Why anyone would love us enough to suffer willingly for us is bewildering. But while we cannot fully understand why, we can know by faith that the advantage we receive from this one man's suffering and death is enormous. This day is "good" not because of what our sins have done to God, but because of what God has done to free us from our sins. It is 'very good', even better than the "very good" pronounced by the Lord at the completion of the six days of creation. By his death, Christ wins for us an even greater new life, a whole new creation. It is very good! Indeed, a Good Friday.♥
It is from from this death ---- eternal, spiritual loss, that Jesus has come to save us. He would rather die than see us suffer death. He offer his own life to save ours. This is the great love we are to celebrate in the holy days to come. This prophecy applies not only to Jesus, but also to all of us when we face opposition or annoyance. On a natural level, we will always have an angry or frightened reaction when people come against us, but we do not live only on a natural level. We lived by faith, which unites us with Jesus Christ and gives us the power of his Spirit. Because of our union with Christ, we too can "set our face like flint" against evil, resist the temptation to revenge, and be confident in the help of the Lord. Therefore, in order to be further strengthened by his word of life, we continue to listen to him each morning, with an "open ear" and an "open heart". The word that we ponder shows us that Jesus, our model in the way of perfect love, shows no concern for his own fate. Rather, he shows a deep concern for the fate of every Judas. Mournful for Judas's downfall : "Alas for the man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! Better for that man if he had never been born!" In saying it would be better for one not been born, is revealing that being in the darkness of sin is worse that not existing at all. We are better off not existing than existing in a state of permanent separation from God ---- which is the consequence of dying in mortal sin. The Lord never wanted us to be part from him. Jesus is willing to take the whole burden of guilt upon himself, rather than accept the eternal loss of one soul. Jesus does not reject Judas. He does not reject any sinner. He does not cease loving us, no matter what we have done. We will only be condemned if we refuse the mercy of God. We do not know exactly what Judas is thinking at the Last Supper. "Only Jesus" can read his heart, and he senses that there is still hope for him. Our own conscience, too, raises the question : "Am I about to betray my Lord?"♥
On Holy Thursday we celebrate the institution of two of the Church's seven sacraments, the Eucharist and Holy Orders. The Eucharist is honored in a particular way in the evening, at the Mass of the Lord"s Supper, while the morning Chrism Mass focuses on Holy Orders. whenever possible, all the priests of the diocese concelebrate with their bishop at the Chrism Mass, held in the cathedral church of the diocese. They renew their promises they made on the day of their ordination and re-commit themselves to their sacred ministry, united in one sacramental brotherhood with the bishop and with one another. Another special element of the Chrism Mass is the blessing of the oils to used in the sacraments throughout the year : Oil of the Sick is used in the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, the Oil of Catechumen in the sacrament of Baptism, and the Sacred Chrism in the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders.♥
Wednesday of Holy Week
At this point, only Judas is truly guilty of betrayal. However, he is also the only one who will not make a humble 'examination of conscience' to let his sin be exposed. He asked the same question, "Not I, Rabbi, surely?", but he is probably motivated more by human respect than by any fear or remorse. He is in Denial! Jesus does not expose him further in public, but places the burden of the betrayal on his own conscience. : "They are your own word." The Lord is not determining that Judas will betray him ---- it is Judas's own free decision. Thus, he bears the responsibility for the consequences. The deepest tragedy of Judas is not he betrayed Jesus but that he seems never to have repented. He ends up betraying himself ---- he takes his own life. Every sin, and every refusal to repent is like a spiritual suicide!♥
Tuesday of Holy Week
"Little children" do not think of themselves as heroes. They rely on their parents for everything and are grateful for everything. When their parents say they cannot go with them, they understand that they cannot go, even if they do not know why. The maturity of spiritual childhood is what we need as we face the attacks of evil. On our own, we cannot stand up against every temptation or remain firm before every cross. But when we rely on the Lord, we find that he is truly our "rock," our "refuge, a mighty stronghold" in whom we find our "restoration".♥
Monday of Holy Week : Servant of the Lord
"The greatest among you must behave as if he were the youngest, the leader as if he were the one who serves. For who is the greater : the one at the table or the one who serves? The one at the table, surely? Yet, here am I among you as one who serves!"
Externally, there are many ways to serve the Lord. We serve by standing up for justice, and by fighting for the rights of the oppressed and underprivileged. We serve by "opening the eyes of the blind," by educating those who live in the darkness of ignorance and fear. We serve by letting the light of the gospel shine in the world through our own lives. We do not necessarily have to "cry out or shout aloud," or make our voices heard in the streets. Often the work of peace progresses quietly, and the servant of peace and justice goes unnoticed. A "servant of the Lord" must even be willing to suffer for the sake of justice, rather than commit injustice for some good cause. Service comes in great variety of external forms, but centrally, there is only one criterion by which we measure its value : Love. If we love God and our neighbor, even if no one knows or cares, or even if others accuse us of wrongdoing, we are still faithful servants.♥
P.S.
Sin is the enemy of love. We do not begin with big sins,but with "just a little," or "just one time." If we continue down this path without repentance, we choke off our own capacity to love. We end up replacing love for God and love for the poor with a twisted love of self. When we sin, we take for ourselves, but when we love, we give of ourselves. Love is the inner motivation of a true "servant of the Lord."♥
He had no form or comeliness that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by men ---- 'a man of sorrows', and acquainted with grief ---- and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he has born our griefs and carried our sorrows ---- yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities ---- upon him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with his stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray we have turned every one to his own way ---- and 'the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all'.♥
*The Song of the Suffering Servant
Contains a description in which it is possible, in a certain sense, identify the stages of Christ's Passion in their various details.
Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord
The two main elements ---- the joyful procession with palms and the sorrowful recounting of the Passion. Putting these two together reminds us of how quickly the situation changed for the Lord as he neared the culmination of his mission. We can also recall how quickly our situations change as we face the emotional ups and downs of life. One moment we can be filled with joy, and within short time, we can plunged into sorrow and suffering. The Lord has entered deeply into the full range of human experience, all the way to what we fear the most, death. As we follow in his footsteps this week, we discover his presence in every circumstances of our lives.♥
