Easter

I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the Lord. The Lord has punished me severely, but he did not give me over to death.  Psalm 118:17-18

Our short lives on earth are sowing time.  If there were no resurrection of the dead, everything we live on earth would come to nothing.  How can we believe in a God who loves us unconditionally if all the joys and pains of our lives are in vain, vanishing in the earth with our mortal flesh and bones?  Because God loves us unconditionally, from eternity to eternity, God cannot allow our bodies ~ the same as that in which Jesus, his Son and our Savior, appeared to us ~ to be lost in final destruction.
     No, life on earth is the time when the seeds of the risen body are planted.  Paul says, "What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable.  It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory.  It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.  It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body" (1 Corinthians 15:42-44).

This wonderful knowledge that nothing we live in our bodies is lived in vain holds a call for us to live every moment as a seed of eternity. 

Holy Saturday

We have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.  Romans 6:4

The resurrection of Jesus was a hidden event.  Jesus didn't rise from the grave to baffle his opponents, to make a victory statement or to prove to those who crucified him that he was right after all.  Jesus rose as a sign to those who loved him and followed him that God's divine love is stronger than death.  To the women and men who committed themselves to him, he revealed that his mission had been fulfilled.  To those who shared in his ministry, he gave the sacred task to call all people into the new life with him.  
     The world didn't take notice.  Only those whom he called by name, with whom he broke bread and to whom he spoke words of peace were aware of what happened.  Still, it was this hidden event that freed humanity from the shackles of death.

O God, help me to know and appreciated the awesome mysteries of redemption that are largely hidden from our view.

Good Friday

Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.  Psalm 31:5

Jesus says, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me." He does not say, "Make a cross" or "Look for a cross".  Each of us has a cross to carry.  There is no need to make one or look for one.  The cross we have is hard enough for us!  But are we willing to take it up, to accept it as our cross?
     Maybe we can't study, maybe we suffer from depression, maybe we experience conflict in our families, maybe we are victims of abuse.  We didn't choose any of it, but these things are our crosses.  We can ignore them, reject them, refuse them or hate them.  But we can also take up these crosses and follow Jesus with them.

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world!

Holy Thursday

For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, be broke it and said, "This is my body that is for you.  Do this in remembrance of me."  1 Corinthians 11:23-24

When Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it and gave it to his disciples, he summarized in these gestures his own life.  Jesus is chosen from all eternity, blessed at his baptism in the Jordan River, broken on the cross and given as bread to the world.  Being chosen, blessed, broken and given is the sacred journey of the Son of God, Jesus the Christ.
     When we take bread, bless it, break it, and give it with the words, "This is the body of Christ," we express our commitment to make our lives conform to the life of Christ.  We, too, want to live as people chosen, blessed and broken, and then become food for the world.

Thank you, Jesus, for the gift of the Eucharist.  Help me to appreciate it and to live up to the challenge of unselfish giving that it presents to us. 

 

Holy Communion at the Sea of Galilee in January 2012.

Wednesday of Holy Week

Insults have broken my heart, so that I am in despair.  I looked for pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.  Psalm 69:20

We belong to a generation that wants to see the results of our work.  We want to be productive and see with our own eyes what we have made.  But that is not the way of God's Kingdom.  Often our witness for God does not lead to tangible results.  Jesus himself died as a failure on the cross.  There was no success there to be proud of.  Still, the fruitfulness of Jesus' life is beyond any human measure.  As faithful witnesses of Jesus, we have to trust that our lives, too, will be faithful, even though we cannot see their fruits.  The fruits of our lives may be visible only to those who live after us.
     What is important is how well we love.  God will make our love fruitful, whether we see that fruitfulness or not.

Lord, help me to learn not to expect "success" in all that I do.

Tuesday of Holy Week

Jesus was troubled in spirit, and declared, "Very truly, I tell you, one of you will betray me."  The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he was speaking.  John 13:21-22

People who live close together can be sources of great sorrow for one another.  When Jesus chose his twelve apostles, Judas was one of them.  Judas is called a traitor.  A traitor, according to the literal meaning of the Greek word for "betraying", is someone who hands the other over to suffering. 
     The truth is that we all have something of the traitor in us because each of us hands our fellow human beings over to suffering somehow, somewhere, mostly without intending or even knowing it.  Many children, even grown-up children, can experience deep anger toward their parents for having protected them too much or too little.  When we are willing to confess that we often hand those we love over to suffering, even against our best intentions, we will be more ready to forgive those who, mostly against their will, are the causes of our pain.

Consider the ways you may be causing others to suffer.

Monday of Holy Week

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?  The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?  Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord.  Psalm 27:1,14

In a world so full of social and political turmoil and immense human suffering, people of faith will often be ridiculed because of their so-called ineffectiveness.  Many will say, "If you believe that there is a loving God, let your God do something about this mess!"  Others will simply declare religion irrelevant, while others will consider it an obstacle to the creation of a new and better world.
     Jesus tells his followers that, as he was, they will be persecuted, arrested, tortured and killed.  But he also tells us not to worry but to trust in him at all times...Let's not be afraid of the skepticism and cynicism coming our way, but trust that God will give us the strength to hold our ground.

Lord, help me to be courageous in living my faith ~ and in defending it when I am called on to do so.