Holy Saturday

The silence of Holy Saturday speaks volumes.  In all appearances, all was lost, good was overcomed by evil.  The drama of the previous day was wrought with betrayal, confusion, fears, agony, pain, sorrow, and finally- dashed hopes.  "He saved others.  He cannot save himself" was a spectator's conclusion.  Jesus, who raised the dead and promised better days ahead, was silent.  His body was taken down from the infamous Cross and was wrapped in the arms of His Mother.  Mary, whose heart was pierced as she watched her Son suffer, wept in silence.  The woman wrapped in silence.  The whole world stood still waiting for God's next move.

"He was known to be of human estate, and it was thus that he humbled Himself, accepting death, even death on the Cross. Therefore, God greatly exalted Him." said St. Paul to his Letter to the Ephesians.

For those who believe, silence is not an absence.  Silence is a cloak which hides something beautiful.  At the right time, at the right moment, this silence shall burst forth into something unheard of, something singular.  Out of darkness, a light shall shine forth.  From the darkness of the grave, life will make itself known.  Jesus Christ died to give us life.  He suffered so that we in turn could find meaning in our sufferings.  He endured the rejections so that we could approach the throne of grace, confident that we will be received.  This suffering servant died to show us the science of the Cross.  The silence of God will yield to something beautiful.  In the silence of death, the whole world waits.  And the waiting will not be in vain....

Where's the "Good" on Good Friday?

© srhelena2012

For Catholics this is not a new question.  As we celebrate the Lord's Passion on Good Friday, we are reminded once again  that Christ suffered and died for us.  It is hard enough for someone to die for a good person, but for a bad one,for sinners like us,  it is even more unfathomable.  This was St. Paul's insight.  When I listen to the reading of the Passion on Good Friday, I will surely ask myself as I have many times: "Jesus,couldn't you have saved me another way?  Why did you have to suffer and die?" If I was a theologian I would probably come up with some deep, intellectual explanations.  I would probably say that the measure of payment should be equal to the offense. It's perfect justice.  While that is true  I prefer to think that it was love and love alone which made Jesus do what he did. "No greater love one has than to lay down his life for his friends."  The Pharisees brought Jesus to his Cross but it was love that kept Him there.  Love for us and love for the Father.  It is really that simple.  And what do we do with that realization?  Saint John of the Cross had an insight: " Love is repaid by love alone."  St. Therese exclaimed "Love alone attracts me."  Saint  Elizabeth of the Trinity explains:
"A Carmelite (or any baptized person)  is a soul who has gazed on the Crucified One; who has seen Him offering Himself as a Victim to His Father for souls and, recollecting herself in this great vision of the charity of Christ, has understood the passionate love of His soul, and has wanted to give herself as he did!"  That is why Good Friday is good.  It makes us understand that sufferings taken or endured for God can become a source of so much good.  It also tells us that we are precious because we have been bought with a price more precious than any glittering gold- the life of God's only Son.  It is good because we have been brought back to God and we are once again heirs of the Kingdom.  So as we enter the drama of the Lord's suffering and death, we look with anticipation to the joys of a new life, a new beginning.  As the morning sun rises on  Easter Sunday, we can look forward with joyful anticipation to the promise made by the Risen Lord:  "See, I make all things new!"  We can always begin again...

"Love One Another As I Have loved You"

Love is a precarious word. I love chocolate with nuts.. I love canoeing when somebody finds the time to take me.. I love silence and solitude.. I love nature, flowers and mountains..I love to sit outdoors and listen to the wind chimes play the  whispering breeze. I love dogs though I don't have one..

We can love many things because they give us a sense of satisfaction and pleasure. We can choose to love people when we find them attractive, good and fun to be with. There is a golden rule: "Love others as you love yourself." But the message we hear on Holy Thursday goes much deeper: "Love one another as I have loved you."

Catholics celebrate Holy Thursday in commemoration of the Lord's Supper. There are three important events and realities conveyed on this single celebration: 1). The institution of the Holy Eucharist 2.) the Institution of Holy Priesthood and 3.) the mandate from Jesus of  love and service to one another. 

 I love Holy Thursday. It is so rich in liturgy and layered with meaning from the Old Testament and New Testament.   I love the sight of priests participating in Chrism Mass with their Bishop. It conveys unity and oneness of purpose anticipating the fullness of the Communion of Saints in heaven.  It is proper that the Holy Priesthood be celebrated this day because the Eucharist is intimately linked with it. No Holy Priesthood, no Eucharist. The priest, as "in persona Christi", takes us back to the sacrifice in Calvary where our salvation was won. The Holy Eucharist was instituted by Christ so that we are not left orphaned.  It is a gift of himself until he comes again in glory.

Because Jesus chose to give himself up for us freely, he has given us an example that as He had done, so also we should do. Many people think that the convent is a place where loving people automatically happens.  It is not so.  Just like all our brothers and sisters in the world, religious men and women do struggle to follow this commandment of Jesus even in Religious life.  Community life is a daily dying to self, to one's ego, preferences and to one's will.  It is not the golden rule that is operational here. It is a much higher call- to love my Sister or Brother as Jesus himself loves him or her. It is his love that is the standard. God does not ask me to like my neighbors but to love them.  Love does not reside in feelings but in the will.  In the past, I was not able to understand this. How can you love someone without liking them? But now I understand. Jesus does not command the impossible.  It will take a long time before one can love as Jesus loved.   The Saints did it.  But it will take his grace and our complete surrender to him "who makes everything new." With God all things are possible.

So as we enter the Sacred Triduum beginning with the Mass of the Last Supper this evening, let us again listen to the story of our salvation. Let us humble ourselves in embracing our sinfulness, remembering that it was the sacrifice of the man called Jesus, our Lord, that saved us. "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all." Isaiah 53:6

Lenten Journey

In our Catholic liturgical calendar, the Lenten season opens with Ash Wednesday.
I have never been to a desert. I have never seen one. I don’t believe this is a unique experience. I have seen nice pictures of deserts with sand and sun, a play of darkness and light, and they have awakened in me a deep sense of the transcendent and mysterious. But I don’t think I would even try to visit a place like that even if the opportunity arises.

But the desert is often synonymous with the Season of Lent. I guess because a desert embodies a vision of solitude, silence, deprivations and purification. Early in our Christian history, and even at present, some individuals sought God in earnest and were inspired to “leave the world” and fled to the desert to encounter him there. They sought solitude and silence to better hear what God had to say to them. They embraced the deprivations of that cruel place to tame the body and bring it under the control of the spirit. But more often than not, one also meets someone else in the desert- one‘s self. You know the saying "you can run from the world, even run from the devil, but you can never run from yourself." And it’s interesting to note that the best stranger we can meet in life is one’s self.

The Lenten season is a time to do a spiritual inventory. We are invited to take a serious and closer look at ourselves in the light of Jesus’ teachings and make an assessment on where we stand in the spiritual journey. I do not mean here an unhealthy preoccupation with our spiritual profile but an honest approach to gain more self-knowledge. In my opinion, Lent is not a time to cut down on the carbohydrates and sweets just to make us feel good about doing something for Lent. Sadly, even among good people, Lent is turned into "a good time to diet." I liken Lent to a big sale. If we are patient enough and diligent enough to browse around our spiritual nooks and crannies, we may find something worthy our time and attention. During a big sale, those endowed with a flair for shopping may endure the crowd and traffic, for what they consider to be a worthy cause.
If we are honest enough, I think our lives and minds are filled with crowding distractions, preoccupations, inordinate attachments and useless activities of all sorts. We are often times left exhausted and ruffled. But if we find the patience and goodwill to sort through the maze, we might obtain the grace to see the pearl of great price hidden in the midst of them.

For example, why do we work frantically and slavishly like there is no tomorrow? Is it for the glory of God or a hidden self-satisfaction of knowing that nobody else can do a better job? Why do we feel angered when someone disagrees with our opinions? Is it because we love the truth or because we think we are often right basing only on our training, education and authority? Why do we feel offended when someone else takes the initiative of performing an act of charity? Is it true love of service or is it because helping others makes us feel superiorly good? In other words, what motivates you and your good actions? What is the fuel that drives your engine?

These are hard questions to ask ourselves but, more accurately, hard questions to honestly answer. The effort of being honest can shatter our imaginary sense of spiritual security. But this is the consequence of following Jesus. He came so that we may be full of life. We have to give up what is not life-giving and open ourselves to a transfusion of grace that only comes to those who are willing, courageous and humble enough to receive it. But before we can give anything up, we have to name it and own it. This is part of the reason for Lent. After going through this spiritual exercise we will experience the joy of rising with Our Lord at Easter.

The journey to self-knowledge is both exciting and disconcerting. But it is the science of the Saints. It is the door to true life. It is both an acquired skill and an infused gift by the Holy Spirit. We are never able to completely know ourselves and purify ourselves however much we try, according to St. John of the Cross, but we can lay the ground works and do our part. God will eventually finish the job of purification and transformation so that we can be the person he created us to be.  Saint Teresa wisely noted that in looking at ourselves, we must not remain there.  We must immediately turn our gaze back to Jesus.  Why did she say that?  Because there is a danger that in looking too much at our miseries and imperfections, we would fall into discouragement and despair.  But fixing our gaze on Jesus on the Cross, we are reminded that He already knew what kind of person we are but still loved us and went to die for us.  Then are we made to understand that the Heart of God is all merciful.  Realizing this our hearts are engulfed in love and we are moved to love Him back.  "Love is repaid by love alone," says St. John of the Cross.  And John also said, "I look at your Cross, O Christ, and I see there the song of Your love."
Lent is a beautiful time given us by God.  It is a great gift of His mercy.  Let us not receive it in vain.  "If today you hear His voice, harden not your hearts."

Temptations: Good or Bad?

 

"The LORD God formed man out of the clay of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and so man became a living being.  The breath of life... this breath is sometimes referred to in some theological books as the "soul" given to man making him a spiritual being.  Did you ever wonder why the story of creation began with the natural world and ended with the creation of man?  Why did God created Paradise before he created Adam and Eve? It was an act of pure love.  He wanted to make sure that they would want for nothing, everything would be ready, when they opened their eyes for the first time.   It was a great act of hospitality.  How good God is.  "Lord, what is man that you care for him?" the Psalmist would ask.  The story of Adam and Eve is I think a story of great betrayal.  It is a story of great ingratitude.  It was not the apple which made the difference but the disobedience, the total disregard, to what God had requested them not to do.  
"The woman saw that the tree was good for food, pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom.  So she took some of its fruit and ate it;"  Spiritual writers have warned us that sin comes to us in the guise of good.  St. John of the Cross has this to say: "it must be noted that, among the many wiles used by the devil to deceive spiritual persons, the most ordinary is that of deceiving them under the appearance of what is good and not under the appearance of what is evil; for he knows that if they recognize evil they will hardly touch it. " (Counsels of Love and Light).  In our world where the idea of freedom is treated as an absolute value, separate from accountability and responsibility, this might be an apple we may want to bite without hesitation.
"and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it."  Misery loves company.  I wonder if Adam ate it because he loved her too much and wanted to share with Eve whatever would come about, or was it because he just didn't know any better?  Sin made malicious what was previously seen as innocent.
Why did God created the serpent which created this mess that Adam and Eve found themselves in?  It comes down to the notion of choice.  The greatest thing about being human is the fact that we were created with our reason and free will.  These are gifts which elevate and give us dignity.  When God endowed us with free will, he was running the risk of us using it to our own advantage- and so it happened.  But love opens itself to risks.  True love, if it is to be true, think only of the beloved's good.  St. John of the Cross warns us that true love subjects the lover to the beloved- so be careful who and what we love.  If we fix our heart on frivolous things, we become frivolous.  That's why St. Paul encouraged us by saying: whatever is noble, whatever is beautiful, whatever is true, think about these things.  We become what we love.  Temptations can make us humble because we are forced to acknowledge our weaknesses and depend on God's grace .  They can make us strong when we persevere in resisting them.  They can make us wise when we learn from our mistakes.  They can make us compassionate towards others because we learn to understand their struggles.  Ultimately, the choice is ours.

The Gospel reading on this First Sunday of Lent is about the temptations of Jesus.  Temptation can be both external and internal.  We are tempted by what we see or hear or perceive around us.  But it can also be internal because we have our inner obsessions, compulsions and addictions.  Jesus was tempted by the devil over three important areas of human needs: physical (food), knowledge,and possessions.  Jesus shows us that having the Word of God for our foundation, we can fight the snares of the devil.  If we know the truths of God, we will recognize the lies of the devil.  The truth will set us free.
Temptations can be good even when we fall.  We don't look for them, just as Jesus didn't look for his, but if we cling to God's words and trust in his mercy, everything will work out for the good of those who love Him.

"Give Me To Drink"

The Third Sunday of Lent reading focuses on the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman.  This is a very rich Gospel reading which contains many points of interest beginning with the relations of antipathy between Jews and Samaritans, Jesus' transcending the social norm of man/woman interactions, the hint of the sin of adultery, the emptiness of living in sin, and many more.  Our Carmelite Saints, especially St. Therese of the Child Jesus and St. Teresa of Avila offer meditations on this precise Gospel in their works, Story of A Soul and Interior Castle respectively.  St. Therese was moved by our Lord's words, "Give Me To Drink!"  She sees these words in the light of her contemplative vocation as a Carmelite nun, inviting her to offer her self for the conversion of poor sinners, which will give delight to the heart of God.  According to Therese, when Jesus said, "give me to drink," He was really referring to His thirst for souls, and most especially the soul of this woman who was living in sin.  She also relates this episode to the same words uttered by Our Lord as He was hanging on the cross in Calvary when He said the words, "I Am thirsty."  St. Therese wants us to understand that every time we unite our sufferings to the sufferings of Jesus and endure trials and discomforts "to make up what is lacking in the Body of Christ which is the Church," (St. Paul), we quench the thirst of Jesus.  Evry time we feel sorrow for our sins and resolve to turn away from the life of self-indulgence and self-centeredness, we slake -off the thirst Our Lord feels.  Jesus thirsts, but He thirsts for souls, and we must give Him souls.

St. Teresa of Avila reflects on this Gospel passage in her discussions on Prayer.
Jesus answered and said to her,
“Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again;
but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst;
the water I shall give will become in him
a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
St. Teresa ventures that the feeling of thirst ones feels in the beginning of one's conversion is different from the thirst one feels in the spiritual union.  Since we were created for God and that according to St. Augustine our heart is restless until it rests in Him, we will never find satisfaction in anything less than God.  Power, wealth, loved ones, possessions- can only give us momentary happiness but we come back more hungry and more thirsty, and more dissatisfied. This is the kind of thirst Jesus was referring to in the Gospel cited above.  But there is another thirst, a healthier kind of thirst but a thirst that could be a source of deeper trial for the person favored with it.  It is the thirst which mystics experience in their longing for God.  It's the burning bush which does not burn out, it's the deep cavern of feelings which St. John of the Cross describes in his Living Flame of Love. 

3rd Sunday of Lent: "You Are God's Temple"

Today's Gospel reading narrates an incident of Jesus driving the money-changers out of the temple area.

"... In the temple precincts he came upon people engaged in selling oxen, sheep and doves, and others seated changing coins. He made a whip of cords and drove them all out of the temple area, sheep and oxen alike, and knocked over the money-changers tables, spilling their coins. He told those who were selling doves:"Get them out of here! Stop turning my Father's house into a marketplace!" His disciples recalled the words of Scripture: "Zeal for your house consumes me."

It is a relief for some of us to see Jesus exhibit this kind of anger. He shows himself to be like us in every way. Sometimes we are tempted to think that Jesus was the out-of-worldly-character, who didn't possess the passions human beings have. But this incident shows us he was capable of strong emotions when the right circumstances called for them. His anger was justified because the temple, which was supposed to be the place of worship, was turned into a place of trade and commerce. It is worth remembering though that the presence of the money changers and sellers were needed because of the prescriptions of the Law of Moses for offering sacrifices. Roman money was the currency used by the people but it is forbidden for a Jew to use it for temple worship. So the presence of the money-changers was justified. There has to be somebody to trade this Roman currency into the temple money acceptable to the Jewish law. Specific animals were also needed for temple sacrifices. So the presence of sheep, oxen and doves was also justified because of the temple sacrifice rules and regulations. So what was Jesus upset about? My opinion is that Jesus went deeper into the heart of the matter. He had perceived that the spirit of worship and awe for the Temple, the House of God, was no longer truly present. People were caught up in the business of the day and had forgotten how it was to "stand in the presence of the living God."
It made me think of our own "temples." "Do you not know that you are God's temple and that the Holy Spirit dwells in you? asked St. Paul. What do we have in our temples? What is the state of our temples? Will Jesus be provoked to anger in the same way when he enters it? Saint Teresa of Avila used to describe our soul as a castle with many mansions. She described sin and its vices to be the "vile creatures" wanting to enter this castle. She also said that if we truly appreciate the importance of the king who lives in the center of this castle, we would not be so easily swayed to sin.

St. Teresa says that the way to enter our castle or temple is through prayer and recollection. Self-knowledge is the fruit of this exercise. During this 3rd Sunday of Lent, let us make it our goal to enter in and see what we have in our "temple precincts." It may happen that we would need the whip made of cords to drive them out. Are there tables to be turned? Creatures to be driven out? "The Kingdom of God belongs to the violent." A little violence to ourselves might be necessary this Lent. Our daily deaths will be rewarded by the Easter Resurrection. "Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up" promised Jesus. A vice pulled out makes room for a virtue to flower.

Photo courtesy: http://mudpreacher.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/jesus-drives-out-money-traders-temple.jpg

A Powerful Image

Saint Teresa of Avila is an attractive model of spirituality because of her down to earth and charismatic personality. Many people love her because her life story reflects the spiritual struggles of so many. She is also a straight shooting spiritual advisor as we see when we read her spiritual writings. What makes St. Teresa attractive to me was her bold determination and her keen sense of spiritual ills which afflict anyone who takes the spiritual journey seriously. She is not a Doctor of the Church for nothing! One of St. Teresa's favorite Saints was St. Augustine. She found consolation in reading his story of conversion in his book "Confessions." She identified with his life of sinfulness and misery. St. Teresa's life was not comparable to St. Augustine . St. Augustine struggled very much with the sin of the flesh and did not know God. St. Teresa's life was immersed in religion having been born and lived in the culture of 16th century Spain. But St. Teresa, before her great conversion, was what we would call "worldly." She always had a great desire for God that even in her early days of youth, she sought martyrdom with her brother by running off to the land of the Moors to have their heads cut-off! This grand plan was arrested when their uncle found them by the roadside. When St. Teresa entered religious life, she entered it only to have instant access to heaven! She herself in her autobiography tells us that it was for fear of going to hell which she thought she deserved because of her worldliness, that she became a nun to save her soul. Her religious life was full of ups and downs. For 18 years, she struggled with trying to reconcile love of God and love of the world. She described herself as being mediocre, neither hot nor cold, in her love of God. For years she abandoned the practice of prayer and was taken up by the distractions of entertaining benefactors, friends and nobles, who frequented the parlor of the Incarnation convent where she was a member. It was the custom of the convent at the time and she was swept in it. Her mind was occupied with many concerns, her spirit was dissipated, but her hunger was deep. She was panting with thirst, but no one was able to show her the spring of living water. That was about to change.

"My soul was now grown weary; and the miserable habits it had contracted would not suffer it to rest, though it was desirous of doing so. It came to pass one day, when I went to the oratory, that I saw a picture which they had put there, and which had been procured for a certain feast observed in the house. It was a representation of Christ most grievously wounded; and so devotional, that the very sight of it, when I saw it, moved me, so well did it show forth that which he suffered for us. So keenly did I feel the evil return I had made for those wounds that I thought my heart was breaking. I threw myself on the ground beside it, my tears flowing plenteously, and implored Him to strengthen me once for all, so that I might never offend Him any more... But this last time, before that picture of which I am speaking, I seem to have made greater progress; for I was now very distrustful of myself, placing all my confidence in God. It seems to me that I said to Him then that I would not rise up till He granted my petition. I do certainly believe that this was of great service to me, because I have grown better ever since. (Autobiography Chapter IX)

Ecce Homo (Google Photo)

"Behold the Man"

Beyond the Surface

Thus says the Lord God:  Cry out full-throated and unsparingly, lift up your voice like a trumpet blast; Tell my people their wickedness,  and the house of Jacob their sins.   They seek me day after day,
and desire to know my ways, Like a nation that has done what is just  and not abandoned the law of their God;  They ask me to declare what is due them, pleased to gain access to God.  “Why do we fast, and you do not see it?  afflict ourselves, and you take no note of it?” Lo, on your fast day you carry out your own pursuits,  and drive all your laborers. Yes, your fast ends in quarreling and fighting, striking with wicked claw. Would that today you might fast so as to make your voice heard on high!  Is this the manner of fasting I wish,of keeping a day of penance: That a man bow his head like a reed and lie in sackcloth and ashes?  Do you call this a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD? This, rather, is the fasting that I wish:  releasing those bound unjustly,  untying the thongs of the yoke;  Setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke; Sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless; Clothing the naked when you see them,and not turning your back on your own.  Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your wound shall quickly be healed; Your vindication shall go before you, and the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer, you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am!  (Isaiah 58;1-9a)

Breaking one's will and surrendering it to another for the love of God is the most difficult act of penance.  Bodily mortifications, fasting and other forms of penance are good in themselves.  But they can also proceed from self will.    The discipline of Lent is meant to discipline the body so the spirit could be set free.  Unencumbered from the burden of selfish attachments and desires, the spirit is made lighter so it can focus itself on the things of God.  Sometimes it can happen that the acts of penance can themselves become attachments and source of pride. 
“Why do we fast, and you do not see it?  afflict ourselves, and you take no note of it?” 
Lo, on your fast day you carry out your own pursuits,  and drive all your laborers. Yes, your fast ends in quarreling and fighting, striking with wicked claw. 
Do we sometimes try to buy God's favors by our good deeds?  God searches beyond the surface.  "Man looks at the appearance but God searches the heart," says the Imitation.  Work your salvation in silence but in earnest and sincerity.  Let us watch our tongue, curb our impatience and set our minds in doing small acts of charity.  Let us be busy with the works of God instead of being busybodies.

5th Sunday of Lent

I would like to share with you some insights I had as I reflected on the readings for this 5th Sunday of Lent.

First Reading from the prophet Jeremiah (Jer 31, 31-34):
"The days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers the day I took them by the hand to lead them forth from the land of Egypt... But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel... I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God, and they shall be my people...."

When God made the Covenant with the Israelites in the desert of Mount Sinai, it was almost like contracting a business deal. It was based on propositions which when obeyed, will assure them of God's enduring protection. During a time of unknown future, in a strange and foreign land inhabited by fierce enemies and deprived of the comforts of Egypt, the promise of a powerful protector will not be ignored! The people were quick to give their consent through Moses and avowed loyalty and obedience to God. And yet, how often did we read later on how the people rebelled and went back to their old ways because they missed their life in Egypt and afraid of dying in the desert. This scenario will be repeated often, this love-hate relationship, "Yes" and "No" avowals between God and His people. It struck me as I was reading the passage above by Jeremiah how when God was thinking of another covenant, He clearly said that it "It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers the day I took them by the hand to lead them forth from the land of Egypt... " Instead, he said, "... But this is the covenant which i will make with the house of Israel... I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God, and they shall be my people....". With this New Covenant planted in our hearts, this Natural Law, the act of obedience is not forced but freely given. We obey God because we believe He is God. We now live under the law of freedom. This is what St. Paul reiterates in his message to the Gentiles, freedom from the Law. It is not coerced, it is not motivated by fear of repercussions but it is based on faith and love. "Perfect love drives all fears", St. John the Apostle says.

Another passage which spoke to me was from the Second Reading from the Letter to the Hebrews (Heb. 5, 7-9):
"Son though He was, he learned obedience from what He suffered; and when perfected, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him"

"..He learned obedience from what he suffered.." It is a consolation to know that obedience is something we have to learn to acquire. Even Jesus had to learn how to obey. It was his suffering which made him open to obedience. Sufferings, when accepted for the love of God, can transform us for the better. That is the mystery of the Cross.

The Gospel passage speaks about self-sacrifice for a greater good. According to Jesus, it is when we freely give of ourselves that we truly love. We can donate money and other possessions for a worthy cause but that is really not Gospel loving. It is when "a grain of wheat dies that it produces much fruit." I am struck by the statement Jesus made: "the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.." What is He talking about? His time is near when he is to be handed over to the enemies and be killed! And yet, he considers this moment of suffering as his glory. Isn't this the mystery we are all confronted, some more than others, the mystery of suffering? And yet, this is suppose to be our moment of glory! Our Christian Faith does talk about redemptive suffering. This is the message we try to convey to our residents who suffer the ills of old age - their sufferings have a value.

As Holy Week approaches, let us join our prayers together as we delve deeper into the mystery of the Cross. Let us follow Our Lord who first treaded the path for us. It is reassuring to remember that Jesus himself felt the weight of suffering: "My soul is troubled now, yet what should I say, "Father, save me from this hour? But it was for this that I came to this hour."

Photo Source: http://www.americasheartland.org/images/com_wheat.jpg