Holy Week 2014: Who Are YOU?

I did not set out to give up blogging for Lent, but it turns out that it's taken me from Ash Wednesday to Holy Week to get one in here. (I'm currently quite busy with some very important work, and blogging is just low on the list of priorities at the moment.) Even this post will be a "cheat" since it is just a re-working of one of my favorite reflections:

We have now entered Holy Week of 2014.

During this Holy Week we will have many opportunities to spiritually walk with Jesus.

Yesterday, Palm Sunday,  we began this walk with Him as He was received with shouts of "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!"

The Triduum (Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday, or the Easter Vigil) is one liturgical celebration. If you have never participated in all three consecutively, I encourage you to do so.

On Holy Thursday, we will be with Jesus as He institutes the Eucharist and the ministerial Priesthood; we will be invited to stay and pray or to fall asleep in His darkest hour.

On Good Friday, we will walk with Him as He is betrayed, reflecting perhaps upon the ways we too have betrayed Him. We will follow Him as He is deserted, beaten, illegally tried, condemned, inhumanely tortured, spit upon, and ridiculed. We will be there as the shouts turn to "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!"

We will witness Him carrying the cross, falling under the weight of the cross, crawling under the weight of the cross; already so near death that Simon is forcibly pressed into service to help Him. Perhaps for a moment, we will reflect upon the opportunities we have to help Him as well.

We will witness Him take our sins upon Himself so that the chains of sin can be broken.

Adam and Eve ate of the tree of life thus bringing death into the world. Jesus, the Lamb of God, hung on a tree of death bringing the gift of everlasting life to a world that does not deserve Him, desperately needs Him, and obstinately rejects Him.

We have the opportunity to be present as our Lord gives us to His mother and gives His mother to us; to be there as He gives up His Spirit, dies for us, and is laid in the tomb.

On Holy Saturday, I will blog about that day. However, today I want to encourage you to see yourself through the eyes of the witnesses.

Who are YOU in the Passion of the Christ?

The Pharisees – Knowledgeable of religion, its practices and traditions, but unable to see that God is in our midst…so busy with what we think is important that we are deaf to what Jesus is telling us is really important.

Judas - When we grow weary that the mission of Jesus may not be what we want it to be. We become self-absorbed, thinking that we know better than God. In choosing our own will over God's Will, we betray Him.

Peter – When we allow fear to overwhelm us. When we are afraid to stand up for what is right and true. When we are afraid to proclaim or even acknowledge our Faith. When, although we have walked with Jesus, touched Him, spoken with Him, seen the wonders He has done…right in front of us; we run away at the most critical of times.

The crowd – When we close God out and listen to others and allow them to influence us to accuse others wrongly or to shout for blood.

Herod – Reducing Jesus to some small wonder-worker or looking for some magical sign.

Pilate – When we give in to the crowd telling us what to do, pressuring us to do something…even when we know it isn't right. Or when we are so caught up in ourselves and our own worries that we attempt to create our own truth or deny there is such a thing as truth…even when THE TRUTH, Christ is there before us.

The soldiers – When we continue to sin, although our sins tear at, bruise, scourge, and pierce our Lord…all while He is pleading for us, "Father, forgive them." Here, the word He uses is ABBA, a word that was really used by young children when addressing their fathers. A word that may be better translated as "Daddy". "Daddy, forgive them."

The scoffing criminal crucified next to Jesus – When we allow ourselves to become so angry and bitter that we are actually angry and bitter with God.

Perhaps we are like some of these people. Perhaps we are like all of these people. One thing is for sure though. We are, each and every one of us;

Barabbas – the notorious sinner who truly deserved to die, and in fact had already been condemned to death…but instead, Jesus, our God who humbled Himself and became one of us, took our place on the cross and died for us so that we might live.

It's hard to accept that we are like many of these people, that we hurt the Lord by our actions. But it's important to remember that while we are not perfect, we are not totally imperfect either. It gives me hope to see myself in some of the other witnesses as well. Maybe we are like:

Simon - Yes, at first reluctant to carry the cross, but picking it up anyway; and certainly transformed by that journey to Golgotha and seeing a forgiving Christ praying and offering Himself for all...for you.

Veronica - When we see Jesus in the poor, the weak, the innocent yet condemned of the world; and we don't just stand by...we act!

Mary - When we love our children so much; knowing that they are really a part of us; feeling, really feeling the pain that they suffer; wishing that we could make the hurt go away....submitting to the Will of God, no matter how painful.

The penitent thief - When we accept what we truly deserve but find the Grace and the courage to rely on Divine Mercy...and receive it!

God bless you. +++

Can We Break Through the Ice?

It's been ten days since my last blog post on Holy Saturday. During Holy Week, I blogged each day about the Passion of Jesus through the eyes of multiple witnesses.

We have experienced the Resurrection of Jesus and are now in the Easter season. But the reality of the world and its condition remains.

After the Resurrection, Jesus appeared repeatedly to His disciples. In some instances, they did not recognize Him. At first, this seems strange that those who spent years with Jesus did not recognize Him. But Mark tells us that He appeared "in another form".

There were the disciples who did not recognize Him, even as He laid out the prophesies before them, but they recognized Him in the breaking of the bread.

And Peter recognized Him when, as He commanded, they dropped their nets after a day of catching nothing and were unable to pull the fish (153, the number categorized by Greek zoologists, thought to symbolize the universal <catholic> mission) into the boat. Perhaps he remembered the first time he encountered Jesus, and the words, "I will make you fishers of men."

And the encounter with Thomas......

Yet, even after these encounters, and even after seeing Him  "lifted up, and a cloud took Him from their sight", it wasn't until Pentecost, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that they truly embraced the mission of Christ's Church.

During the fifty days between the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus until Pentecost, we should be reflecting upon our baptismal call and what it means to be Christians.

Easter Sunday has passed, but as I stated earlier, the reality of a broken world remains. There is no shortage of bad news and mind-blowing accounts of atrocities, along with threats and fears and all sorts of disease and ailments.

If we cannot see beyond these things, it will be difficult to recognize the risen Jesus, and we can lose hope.

Jesus is with us in the Eucharist, the Bread of Life. Do we recognize Him in the breaking of the Bread?

At the end of Mass, we are sent out to continue the mission of the Church. Do we leave worried about what  we "got out of" or did not "get out of" Mass? Can we possibly be so bold as to not recognize Jesus, brush him aside and wonder "What's in it for me?"

We should leave asking "What is it that God is calling me to today? Who is God calling me to today?"

I can certainly be guilty of focusing too much on the icy world around me. Perhaps you can say the same. These things are distractions from the Truth and the eternal reality.

The great news is that we don't have to rely on ourselves. We have the Holy Spirit to help us to fulfill our calling, to accomplish the mission of God, and to help us to see beyond our doubts to the Hope of the Resurrection.

Let's help the world to break through this temporal ice; to rise up and live in the Life of Christ!

God has a cape for every CAPE

Have you ever heard anyone making reference to "Chreasters"? You know, the people who come to church only on Christmas and Easter? Perhaps you have used the term yourself? I have, and really, it does not denote anything positive in its typical use. Some Catholics may reach that notch "above" being a Chreaster. They may also come to church on Ash Wednesday and Passion Sunday (Palm Sunday). Would such a Catholic then be a "CAPE"?

It's Them Against Us

I don't know, but I do know that "they" take "our" parking spots, sit in "our" regular seats, cause additional "unnecessary" planning, use the wrong responses (not "ours"), etc.

"And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself." - John 12: 32

Siblings of the Prodigal

When I read the parable of the Prodigal Son, it's always comforting to see myself as the returning Prodigal, knowing that my Father is always more than ready and willing to accept me and embrace me, giving me so much more than I deserve. But then, there's that brother of his. He's perfectly content with his life and all that his father has given him, until he sees his father celebrating the return of his wayward, "lost" but now "found" prodigal brother.

Sadly, I remember some of my spiritual "siblings", making remarks or comments that I found hurtful. What those were or who made them is insignificant. However, this Prodigal felt "drawn" back to Jesus despite not being a CAPE or even a Chreaster. Yes, I had really been lost for a very long time, and I'm not sure that I would have allowed myself to be embraced by my Father without some others who were able to cooperate with Him, helping me to feel welcomed and a part of the "family" again. It's true that there was much work to be done in order to mend the broken "family" relationships, but I am thankful for those who helped me to feel welcomed again.

So it especially hurts me when I recognize that I may not have always extended the same welcome to others. Even if I didn't verbalize such unwelcoming thoughts or feelings, the fact that I thought or felt them lends itself to conviction that I did not act or speak in a manner that would make my "siblings" feel welcomed. How sad that I can ever be "that guy", that sibling.

"Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me." - Matthew 25: 45

Capes for the CAPES

This post is my reminder to myself, and perhaps to you as well, that God is drawing our "siblings", brothers and sisters to Himself. In order for them to feel welcomed, to begin their own mending, I...we...have to cooperate with our Father. That can begin with recognizing that "they" are part of "us" and "our" spots are "their" spots, and "our" responses in the Liturgy are the responses prescribed for our participation in God's work, thus they are His anyway.

After all, God has a cape for every brother and sister.

cape - part of a garment that fits closely at the neck and hangs over the shoulders;
Like a hug

cape - probably from Spanish capa (cloak), from Late Latin cappa (head covering); 
Like being cloaked (covered) with the Blood of the Lamb or crowned with the Crown of Salvation

cape - a point or extension of land jutting out into water;
Like "HE drew me out of the deep waters" - Psalm 18: 17

All are welcomed

...There is no one, however wicked and guilty, who may not confidently hope for forgiveness, provided his repentance is honest. Christ who died for all men desires that in his Church the gates of forgiveness should always be open to anyone who turns away from sin. - Catechism 982