Easter Week Tuesday

 Why are you weeping? Jn. 20:15

It is not easy to lose someone. 

Sometimes we cannot stop crying. 

This is what Mary Magdalene was going through. 

She went to the tomb where Jesus was buried. 

And her eyes were filled with tears

Because she thought she would never see Him again. 

But the Risen Lord appeared to her

And asked her why she was weeping?

And when she recognized the Risen Lord,

Her tears disappeared. 

One day our tears will disappear

As we too will behold the Risen Lord;

And all those we love. 

Monday of Easter Week

Fearful yet overjoyed Mt. 28:28

Mary Magdalene had gone to visit the tomb where Jesus was laid,

Expecting to anoint His Body,

Only to find the tomb empty. 

Fearful and yet overjoyed for she remembered the words of Jesus,

That He was the Resurrection and the Life.

How would you feel if you went to the cemetery to visit the grave of a loved one and found it empty?

Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice, and come forth. Jn 5:28

The Death and Resurrection of Jesus

The last words of Jesus were, “Father into Your hands I commend My Spirit.Lk.23:46

And as Jesus exhaled His last breath,

His spirit separated from His Body and returned to His Father. 

Then Joseph of Arimathea climbed up a ladder, 

pulled the nails out His hands and feet;

and lowered His lifeless body into the arms of His mother,

Who had remained Faithful to the end. 

His Body was then taken to the tomb and laid on a stone slab,

His head was wrapped in a cloth and a shroud was laid on Him,

and then the stone was rolled to the entrance of the tomb. 

And the world went silent. 

Then early, on the morning of the Third Day,

The Spirit of Jesus was reunited with His Body;

In an explosion of Light so great,

That it transfigured His Body into a glorified one,

And left an imprint of the suffering of His old Body on the shroud. 

He then sat up, and laid aside the shroud that had covered His Body. 

And unrolled the cloth that had been wrapped around His head,

And folded it. 

Leaving behind all of his earthly suffering on the shroud, 

He then left the tomb no longer bound by time or space

For Heaven is not a place;

It is a new state of being;

An angel then  came and rolled back the stone

so that Mary Magdalene could enter the Empty Tomb.

It will be the same for us. 

One day, we will say “Father into your hands, I commend my spirit.” 

And we will exhale our last breath

and our spirit will be separated from our bodies 

and will return to our Heaven Father. 

And our bodies will then be laid in their graves;

And we will wait.

For the Last Day, 

When Our Heaven Father will send forth His spirit into the world as at the beginning, 

and our spirits will be reunited with our bodies in an explosion of Light so great,

That our body will be transfigured into a glorious one. 

And we too will leave behind in our graves all our mourning and sorrow and suffering and death; 

No longer bound by time or space;  

Where With the angels and saints;

We will Gather around the Super of the Lamb;

And Behold God, Face to Face. 

Good Friday

They do not know what they are doing. Lk. 23:34

The Romans condemned Jesus as a criminal 

The Sanhedrin condemned Him as a Blasphemer. 

He was scourged  till his back was one open wound. 

Crowned with thorns till blood flowed down his face. 

And His feet and hands were nailed to a cross;

As if that was not enough,

They mocked Him and rolled dice for His clothes. 

In the Face of this horrific suffering, Jesus said;

Forgive them!

Not only Forgive them;

But Jesus made excuses for their actions by saying;

They did not know what they were doing. 

Like a mother or father whose children do something wrong,

Their love is so great that not only do they want to forgive them,

But make an excuse that they did not know what they were doing. 

Is God not our Father?

Are we not His children?

Do we not sometimes say or do things

And not really realize what we were doing?

Caught up in our own prejudices and passions;

Addictions and anger and pride?

The foolishness of youth or the stubbornness of old age?

Jesus is so loving at those times that not only does He forgive us

But He makes an excuse for what we have done by saying,

That we did not really know what we were doing. 

If Jesus can make excuses for the things we have done;

Maybe once in awhile we too should make excuses for the things others have done. 

Because maybe;

They too did not know what they were doing !

Wednesday of Holy Week

Big and little betrayals 

At first We may find it hard believe how Judas could have betrayed Jesus. 

Until we begin to reflect upon the little betrayals that people commit against Jesus everyday. 

For Jesus is in each person we meet everyday. 

Whenever people turn their back on someone in need;

They are turning their back on Jesus carrying His cross. 

Whenever people make fun of other people or mock them;

They are mocking Jesus as the soldiers did. 

Whenever people remain silent about their Faith;

They are denying Jesus as Peter did. 

Whenever people choose money or power or fame over their Faith;

Then they are like Judas betraying Jesus. 

we either 

betray and deny and mock and Jesus

Or we comfort and console and love Him;

By the way we treat one another.