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. 

Tuesday of Holy Week

Roosters and St. Peter Jn. 13:36-38

Roosters announce things

They announce the dawn. 

They announce when the fox is in the hen house. 

Peter was a kind of rooster. 

Always speaking up first. 

Announcing things;

From the empty boat, Peter said;

“We have toiled all night but took nothing in,

But at Your word we will lower the nets.”

Then when the boat was overflowing with fish,

“Depart from me Lord, for I am a sinful man.”

At Caesarea Philippi,

“You are the Christ, the Son of God!”

Immediately followed by,

“God forbid Lord, that you should suffer and die.”

At Capernaum after the discourse on the Bread of Life,

“Lord to Whom shall we go?  You have the words of everlasting life.”

On the stormy sea,

“”Lord bid me to come to You on the water.”

On Mount Tabor he said,

“Lord it is good to be here, let us build three tents.”

In the Upper Room at the Last Supper,

“Lord you shall never wash my feet.”

And later that same night,

“Lord I am willing to go to prison and to death for you.”

But how quickly Peter changed his tune when questioned 

while standing around the fire at the High Priest house;

Three times he crowed,

“I do not know him!”

And then the Rooster crowed!

And Peter wept bitterly 

For He remembered the words of Jesus,

“Before the cock crows,

Three times you will deny me!”

For the rest of his life,

Whenever he heard a cock crow,

Peter probably wept. 

When the world surrounds us and questions who we are and do we know Jesus?

What will we say?

Or will we too deny that we know Him;

Only to weep every time we hear the cock crow. 

Monday of Holy Week

 Judas and Mary Jn 12:1-11

Said Judas to Mary

1.Said Judas to Mary, "Now what will you do
With your ointment so rich and rare?"
"I'll pour it all over the feet of the Lord,
I'll wipe it away with my hair", she said,
I'll wipe it away with my hair.

2."Oh Mary, O Mary, O think of the poor.
This ointment, it could have been sold;
And think of the blanket and think of the bread
You could buy with the silver and gold", he said,
You could buy with silver and gold.

3.Tomorrow, tomorrow, I'll think of the poor;
"Tomorrow", she said, "not today"
"For dearer than all of the poor in the world
Is my love who is going away," she said,
"My love who is going away."

4.Said Jesus to Mary, "Your love is so deep
Today, you may do as you will.
Tomorrow, you say, I am going away,
But my body I leave with you still," he said,
"My body I leave with you still."

5."The poor of the world is my body," he said,
To the end of the world they shall be.
The bread and the blanket you give to the poor
You'll know you have given to me, he said,
"You'll know you have given to me."

6."My body will hang from the cross of the world
Tomorrow," he said, "and today,
And Martha and Mary will find me again
"and wash all the sorrow away," he said,
"And wash all the sorrow away."

Palm Sunday

 

The air was filled with Palm Branches

The streets were lined with cloaks

And the people were so thick you could not stir them with a stick. 

That is what it is like to jump on the bandwagon. 

Everyone wants to be there. 

Everyone loves a winner!

But by the time Jesus arrived at Calvary

They were all gone. 

Only Mary and John and Mary Magdalene were left. 

Anyone can follow Jesus to His glory. 

But a true disciple is known;

When one follows Him all the way to His cross. 

Friday 5th Week of Lent

Performing Good works Jn. 10:31-42

Jesus told the Pharisees to believe Him 

Because of the works that He does is a sign that the Father sent Him. 

What do our actions tell others?

Do our actions tell others that we are Christian?

That we are Really Christian!

Or part time Christian?

Or sort of Christian?

How can we expect anyone to believe in Jesus

Unless our actions do measure up with what we say about Jesus?

Thursday 5th week of lent

The Lord remembers His Covenant forever Ps. 105

Promises are often broken;

Contracts are too. 

But never a Covenant. 

Jesus made a New Covenant with us at the Last Supper

And sealed it with His Blood on Good Friday.  

Nothing can ever separate us from His Love;

Neither death nor life;

Neither things present nor things to come;

Nor powers or principalities. 

Jesus will always be there with us through it all. 

The Annunciation

  

The Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and asked her if she would bear God’s only Son. 

When Mary said “Yes” to God,

the Word became flesh and dwelt within her 

and it bore fruit 

and she gave birth to Jesus. 

When we go to communion, 

our “Amen” is our “Yes”, 

and through the Eucharist we receive,

the Word becomes flesh and dwells within us. 

Does it bear fruit in our lives?

Do we give birth to Jesus in the world as Mary did?

Only when we say “Yes” as Mary did,

Without hesitation or question or counting the cost;

Will the life of Jesus within us bear fruit. 

Tuesday 5th Week of Lent

 Who am I? Jn. 8:21-30

Who am I?  Is not always easy to answer

Life and times change

And as they do whose are and what we do changes as well

For example,

I am an infant, a teenager; a wife and then a widow. 

I am young and strong; I am old and tired;

We are constantly changing

But God remains the same. 

This is why Jesus told the Pharisees

That He is “I Am”

Always the same;

Never changing;

The God of the living and the dead

The Alpha and the Omega;

The beginning and the end. 

So that wherever we are and whoever we are;

Jesus is there with us;

Just as we are!

Monday 5th Week of Lent

The Light of the world

Whenever there is a Tornado warning,

A person has to be prepared for the lights to go out. 

So they do not stumble around in the darkness. 

Life is filled with storms

That threaten to cast us into physical, emotional and spiritual darkness. 

How prepared are we?

Jesus came into the world so that we might not remain in darkness. 

Yet some people prefer the dark to the light. 

And it is not Jesus but they themselves who will condemn themselves to darkness

Because they refused to follow the Light. 

5th Sunday of Lent

If Only.       Jn. 11

Tuesday

“If only!"

Who has not said these two simple words at some time or another in life?

And if you haven’t, you will!

If only I had not said that. 

If only I had not done that. 

If only things had turned out differently. 

If only I could do it over.  

Martha had her "if onlys" too. 

Her brother, Lazarus had just died. 

“If only I had noticed how sick Lazarus was. 

If only I had not waited?

"If only Jesus had been here." She said to herself. 

She had seen His other miracles. 

She saw Him raise up the daughter of Jairus. 

She saw the blind see and the deaf hear and the lame walk. 

So when Jesus came down the road, she ran up to Him and said,

"If only you had been here, my brother would not have died."

So Jesus looked at Martha and told her that her brother would live again. 

And he did!

Because Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life. 

And Martha's "if only" disappeared as she placed her trust in Jesus. 

We can spend our lives saying "if only." 

Haunted by the past and what we could and should have done to make things different. 

Or like Martha we can bring our "If Onlys" to The Lord. 

And let Jesus take care of our "if onlys!"

And if we do..........

Then one day all of our "if onlys" will disappear in the light of Him Who is the Resurrection and The Life.