Jesus' Death on the Cross is the heart of His Story. The act of crucifixion at the hands of the authorities, with the complicity of others seeking to eradicate His influence could have been one more story of injustice and the end of the Story. Instead, it becomes the symbol of self-sacrifice and sacrificial Love. While the world can see it as an act of cruelty, the eyes of Faith are able to pierce into it as the sign of infinite Mercy. The Son of God embraced our human life in its fullness. He laid down His own life, only to take it up again.
"Why did they kill Jesus?" is a question that comes from a first-grader. "They" are "we." The Lord was put to death by individuals caught up in fear and in their blindess to their own responsibility and their true freedom to do things differently. In facing His death, even death on a Cross, Jesus loved them -- loved us -- to the end. He never backed away from the Truth that the Father sent Him. He never stopped reaching out to those who were with Him to the end.
"Father, forgive them. They know not what they do." (Luke 23:34)
"This day you will be with Me in Paradise." (Luke 23:43)
"Woman, behold your son. Behold your Mother." (John 19:26-27)
"My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34)
"I thirst." (John 19:28)
"It is finished." (John 19:30)
"Father, into Your hands I commmend My spirit." (Luke 23:46)
These "seven last words" show Jesus' selflessness even in the face of death. His words are of forgiveness and concern for those around Him, and expression of human need and longing. They point to the deep Truth that there is always a freedom to give of oneself. Human beings are capable of Love. The Crucified Lord stretches out His hands on the Cross to reveal just how much God Loves Us.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Friday, January 15, 2010
The Carrying of the Cross
Jesus came into our world to bring about salvation. In taking on our human nature, He took on everything that pertains to human life in this world. One constant that is found among all human beings is the fact of suffering. We are born through suffering. We experience pain throughout our lives. For some, the moment of death involves intense pain. Thos left behind experience suffering at the loss of the loved one. In carrying His Cross, Jesus embraces suffering and makes it a means of our salvation.
As we walk the Way of the Cross with Jesus, we can unite our sufferings to the suffering of Christ. Each step He takes mirrors the sufferings of human beings. The Cross is imposed, and yet He takes it up willingly and invite us to follow, taking up our own crosses. It is a heavy burden, one that causes Him to fall, as Tradition has it, three times on the way to Golgotha. Eventually, it is a burden that is shared, as Simon of Cyrene assist Him through part of the journey. The Cross does not impede human encounters; the fact of its being carried along a path means that it allows for Jesus to meet many along the way -- the weeping women, His Mother, Veronica, and those who chose to stay with Him to the end. Human suffering makes companions of us all, for we all must suffer.
The Sufferings of Christ bring about salvation. As He experiences rejection, punishment, and the anguish of body, mind and spirit that come with suffering, Jesus lays claim to all that is human. "By His stripes we are healed." (Isaiah 53:5)
As we walk the Way of the Cross with Jesus, we can unite our sufferings to the suffering of Christ. Each step He takes mirrors the sufferings of human beings. The Cross is imposed, and yet He takes it up willingly and invite us to follow, taking up our own crosses. It is a heavy burden, one that causes Him to fall, as Tradition has it, three times on the way to Golgotha. Eventually, it is a burden that is shared, as Simon of Cyrene assist Him through part of the journey. The Cross does not impede human encounters; the fact of its being carried along a path means that it allows for Jesus to meet many along the way -- the weeping women, His Mother, Veronica, and those who chose to stay with Him to the end. Human suffering makes companions of us all, for we all must suffer.
The Sufferings of Christ bring about salvation. As He experiences rejection, punishment, and the anguish of body, mind and spirit that come with suffering, Jesus lays claim to all that is human. "By His stripes we are healed." (Isaiah 53:5)
Monday, November 9, 2009
The Crowning with Thorns
"Ecce Homo," that is, "Behold the Man," Pilate said to the crowd that had gathered to witness the proceedings against Jesus. At that moment, Jesus was brought forth wearing the crown of thorns. In a bizarre twist of irony, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords was being acknowledged and mocked at the same time. He Who is the Word through Whom the universe was created was being rejected and given recognition in one and the same action.
The Mystery of Who Jesus Is and how He relates to human history is the heart of the Gospel. Each event that is recounted tells the whole story for those who have eyes to see it. "Behold the Man" shows us who we are. Jesus reveals God and He reveals us to ourselves. The crown points to His capacity to rule over all His creatures. The thorns imply our rejection of His sovereignty. And yet, the crown of thorns implies that He rules over us even in our efforts to separate ourselves from His power. His suffering is for us.
As we admit our sinfulness and weakness, we are put into contact with the strength and grace of the Lord Who frees us. When we look upon Him Whom we have rejected, we acknowledge His Kingship over us. Our sorrow at His plight, caused by our own choices, becomes a motive for care and concern for all who are left out. We see humanity in need of redemption, and we choose to cooperate with the only source of salvation, Christ the King.
The Mystery of Who Jesus Is and how He relates to human history is the heart of the Gospel. Each event that is recounted tells the whole story for those who have eyes to see it. "Behold the Man" shows us who we are. Jesus reveals God and He reveals us to ourselves. The crown points to His capacity to rule over all His creatures. The thorns imply our rejection of His sovereignty. And yet, the crown of thorns implies that He rules over us even in our efforts to separate ourselves from His power. His suffering is for us.
As we admit our sinfulness and weakness, we are put into contact with the strength and grace of the Lord Who frees us. When we look upon Him Whom we have rejected, we acknowledge His Kingship over us. Our sorrow at His plight, caused by our own choices, becomes a motive for care and concern for all who are left out. We see humanity in need of redemption, and we choose to cooperate with the only source of salvation, Christ the King.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
The Scourging at the Pillar
Jesus Christ came to redeem the whole of human nature. All that happened to Him in His human nature was at the service of the Revelation of the Father and the gift of Salvation and Redemption won for us through the grace of the Holy Spirit operating in that nature. The suffering of Jesus, physical and personal, reveals to us how intimately one with us He is.
When Jesus was scourged, the cruelty of human beings to other human beings was made known without any hiddenness. An innocent Lamb, One Who was guilty of no crime -- declared innocent by Pontius Pilate himself -- was made to suffer in His very flesh. The mortification of the flesh that was inflicted on Him shows the strength inherent in our human nature. He kept going even after such ill treatment.
Our "sins of the flesh" are met with redemption through the scourging of the Lord. He took upon Himself the guilt of us all. Mercy was given mercilous punishment, and He met it with meekness. Compassion for the sufferings of the Lord leads us to have a greater compassion for our brothers and sisters, even those who treat us with cruelty.
God has redeemed us through Jesus Christ. "By His stripes, we are healed."
When Jesus was scourged, the cruelty of human beings to other human beings was made known without any hiddenness. An innocent Lamb, One Who was guilty of no crime -- declared innocent by Pontius Pilate himself -- was made to suffer in His very flesh. The mortification of the flesh that was inflicted on Him shows the strength inherent in our human nature. He kept going even after such ill treatment.
Our "sins of the flesh" are met with redemption through the scourging of the Lord. He took upon Himself the guilt of us all. Mercy was given mercilous punishment, and He met it with meekness. Compassion for the sufferings of the Lord leads us to have a greater compassion for our brothers and sisters, even those who treat us with cruelty.
God has redeemed us through Jesus Christ. "By His stripes, we are healed."
Thursday, June 4, 2009
The Agony in the Garden
Moments of decision are an opportunity to exercise the greatest gift to human beings from God: our free will. When we make a choice, we perform an act that is distinctly human. A choice that comes from the depths of our being has implications far beyond the experience of the moment itself. What causes agony in decision-making is not the act itself, but the awareness of the results that will follow from the act. We fear the outcome of our choice whether we have a clear sight on it or not. For most human beings, the imagination can intensify the anguish due to its tendency to magnify our fears.
For Jesus, the moment of decision to embrace His suffering and death was intensely experienced in the Garden of Gethsemane. He had poured out all He had to His disciples at the Last Supper. He brought them with Him to the Garden where they had often prayed, in sight of the Temple across the Kidron Valley. They fell asleep, so He was alone, humanly speaking, in this most profound moment of decision. If He chose, He could have left them in the garden to face His enemies. It would have been so easy to walk up the Mount of Olives in the darkness, to find His way alone to Bethany, where no doubt Martha, Mary and Lazarus would have assisted Him to escape. Instead, He remained. After His triple prayer, "Thy Will be done," He woke His disciples and entered into the encounter that would bring about His final act of surrender to the Father's Will.
The Agony was a moment of intense Love. The Father loved the world, and so sent His only Son to be our Savior. The Son so loved the Father and, sharing His love for the world, embraced all that Love required. The Spirit stretched the humanity of the Son of God to embrace the full reality of human life, even death, death on a Cross. The decision to embrace this experience beyond fear made all the difference.
For Jesus, the moment of decision to embrace His suffering and death was intensely experienced in the Garden of Gethsemane. He had poured out all He had to His disciples at the Last Supper. He brought them with Him to the Garden where they had often prayed, in sight of the Temple across the Kidron Valley. They fell asleep, so He was alone, humanly speaking, in this most profound moment of decision. If He chose, He could have left them in the garden to face His enemies. It would have been so easy to walk up the Mount of Olives in the darkness, to find His way alone to Bethany, where no doubt Martha, Mary and Lazarus would have assisted Him to escape. Instead, He remained. After His triple prayer, "Thy Will be done," He woke His disciples and entered into the encounter that would bring about His final act of surrender to the Father's Will.
The Agony was a moment of intense Love. The Father loved the world, and so sent His only Son to be our Savior. The Son so loved the Father and, sharing His love for the world, embraced all that Love required. The Spirit stretched the humanity of the Son of God to embrace the full reality of human life, even death, death on a Cross. The decision to embrace this experience beyond fear made all the difference.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Mary's Pondering Heart
"And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart." (Luke 2:19)
"He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart." (Luke 2:51)
The Pondering in her Heart of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, is Contemplative Prayer par excellence. The Mother of our Lord said Yes to God, accepting the Son of God into her very flesh, participating in a physical way in the act of the Incarnation. In the face of all the things that happened to her in relation to her Son, she pondered. She did not doubt. She accepted Truth as it was spoken to her and in her. And yet, she reflected and she kept all that happened in her heart.
Light comes into darkness and the first streaks of dawn are seen by those who watch for it. Mary herself is the first soul to receive the fullness of salvation offered to all open to it by her Son. As she accepts Him, lives with Him, watches Him grow in wisdom and grace, she too grows. The Truth of Who He Is dawns upon her Faith.
Mary perseveres through the difficulties that come from opposition to her Son and she is with Him, still pondering, as He experiences His Passion. Her heart embraces Hope and she holds onto that Hope in the midst of the Disciples of her Son. As a Mother, she holds all her children in her heart and stays with them as they contemplate God's call in their lives as well.
The open, receptive, pondering heart of Mary is a reminder to all of the power of Prayer to accomplish great things. The heart pierced by a sword comes to understand the meaning of Suffering, and the thoughts of many hearts are laid bare, coming to a moment of Truth when it is acknowledged that All Things are Possible with God, and that only God's Grace can sustain us.
Mary's Fiat, from the Annunciation to the Pietà , flows from her Pondering Heart. May all her children learn from her to live in accord with God's Word, that His Will may be done in us.
"He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart." (Luke 2:51)
The Pondering in her Heart of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, is Contemplative Prayer par excellence. The Mother of our Lord said Yes to God, accepting the Son of God into her very flesh, participating in a physical way in the act of the Incarnation. In the face of all the things that happened to her in relation to her Son, she pondered. She did not doubt. She accepted Truth as it was spoken to her and in her. And yet, she reflected and she kept all that happened in her heart.
Light comes into darkness and the first streaks of dawn are seen by those who watch for it. Mary herself is the first soul to receive the fullness of salvation offered to all open to it by her Son. As she accepts Him, lives with Him, watches Him grow in wisdom and grace, she too grows. The Truth of Who He Is dawns upon her Faith.
Mary perseveres through the difficulties that come from opposition to her Son and she is with Him, still pondering, as He experiences His Passion. Her heart embraces Hope and she holds onto that Hope in the midst of the Disciples of her Son. As a Mother, she holds all her children in her heart and stays with them as they contemplate God's call in their lives as well.
The open, receptive, pondering heart of Mary is a reminder to all of the power of Prayer to accomplish great things. The heart pierced by a sword comes to understand the meaning of Suffering, and the thoughts of many hearts are laid bare, coming to a moment of Truth when it is acknowledged that All Things are Possible with God, and that only God's Grace can sustain us.
Mary's Fiat, from the Annunciation to the Pietà , flows from her Pondering Heart. May all her children learn from her to live in accord with God's Word, that His Will may be done in us.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Institution of the Holy Eucharist at the Last Supper
On the night before He died, Jesus celebrated a moment with His disciples that served to establish a way of being with Him for the rest of Time. The Holy Eucharist gathered together into one simple ritual all that He had taught and all the He has lived with them, and became the most intimate manner of passing on to other all that was entrusted to the disciples. For all Time, the Presence of the Lord with His own will be most intensely experienced in the Eucharist.
It is an experience of unity. The One God makes known to us the truth that human nature and divine nature are wedded together in Christ. Jesus, Who longed to share this Supper with His disciples, makes them one with Him in the act of sharing the Passover. Past, Present and Future are brought together. Time and Eternity are linked. All who have prepared the way, all who are on the journey, and all who are to come are joined in a unity that is effected by the Spirit.
It is a sacred meal. It is an experience of Communion with God and with fellow believers. It joins together the simple sharing at table and the high ritual of Passover, calling for a sharing of life and hospitality. It brings to completion all the meals Jesus shared with His followers and the Signs He performed among them, revealing God's power to feed and nourish His People in Word and Sacrament.
It is a transformation of the material world into the bearer of Spirit. Transubstantiation of the substance of bread and wine into the Lord's Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, accomplishes the New Creation. This opens the way to the transformation of human beings that will enable us to enter into the Union of Love that is the Life of the Holy Trinity.
It is an experience of unity. The One God makes known to us the truth that human nature and divine nature are wedded together in Christ. Jesus, Who longed to share this Supper with His disciples, makes them one with Him in the act of sharing the Passover. Past, Present and Future are brought together. Time and Eternity are linked. All who have prepared the way, all who are on the journey, and all who are to come are joined in a unity that is effected by the Spirit.
It is a sacrifice. It begins for Jesus the final act of His pouring out His life for the salvation of the world. The New Covenant is made in the very act of giving over His Body and Blood, the act that would be consummated on the Cross. Its celebration makes present to all who experience it the saving Passion, Death and Resurrection of the Lord.
It is a sacred meal. It is an experience of Communion with God and with fellow believers. It joins together the simple sharing at table and the high ritual of Passover, calling for a sharing of life and hospitality. It brings to completion all the meals Jesus shared with His followers and the Signs He performed among them, revealing God's power to feed and nourish His People in Word and Sacrament.
It is a transformation of the material world into the bearer of Spirit. Transubstantiation of the substance of bread and wine into the Lord's Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, accomplishes the New Creation. This opens the way to the transformation of human beings that will enable us to enter into the Union of Love that is the Life of the Holy Trinity.
It is the Presence of the Lord in the Breaking of the Bread, the enduring sign of the Truth that in Jesus, God has "pitched His tent," that is "tabernacled" among us. Through the Holy Eucharist, the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar, believers are invited to taste the Glory of Eternity even as we continue our journey through Time.
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