Reading I: Is. 50:4-7
Psalm: 22
Reading II: Phil. 2:6-11
Gospel: Mt. 27:11-54
I am inspired by this artist’s portrayal of Jesus. I see the Lord looking upward to His Father for strength to persevere in His sufferings and offering them for our salvation. It is a reminder to me to ask the Father’s help when I am struggling with my crosses, as well as to offer them up for my salvation and that of my brothers and sisters.
The picture is not necessarily an accurate picture of the real event. Perhaps, Jesus was too weak to even hold his head up. However, it does depict the inner state of His soul. He relied on His Father for help, even when He felt abandoned. It also highlights Jesus’ perseverance and willingness to offer Himself for our salvation and obey the will of God, His Father.
I can still remember being surprised when I was first told that Jesus would be willing to go through the whole Passion even if I were the only one needing to be saved. Then I recalled Jesus’ saying, “I am the Good Shepherd.”
In the Gospel of Luke 15:3-7, we hear His Parable of the Lost Sheep. The shepherd is willing to leave the 99 to search for the lost one. That tells me that Jesus, the Good Shepherd, so loves each one of us individually, that he is willing to sacrifice Himself for every last one of us. How totally awesome is our God?!!!
It might be good for us to reflect this week on the greatness of God’s love for each one of us, especially in His Passion. When he was being taunted and told to come down from the cross, He chose to remain, even though he could have easily saved himself all that suffering.
God’s love is beyond our comprehension, and our ability to adequately return that love is weak in comparison. This is due to our humanity. Even St. Katharine Drexel often asked the Lord to help her “to love Him as He deserved to be loved.” Perhaps, that could be our prayer too, especially at Holy Communion time.
The Lord so humbles Himself as to give Himself to us under the form of Bread to be eaten by us. I just love the beautiful hymn “Panis Angelicus” in which the songwriter expresses his wonder for God’s Love.
Bread of Angels,
made the bread of men;
The Bread of heaven
puts an end to all symbols:
A thing wonderful!
The Lord becomes our food:
poor, a servant, and humble.
We beseech Thee,
Godhead One in Three
That Thou wilt visit us,
as we worship Thee,
lead us through Thy ways,
We who wish to reach the light
in which Thou dwellest.
Amen.
Spanish Translation of Reflection Above...
La pasión de Jesús
Estoy inspirado por el retrato de este artista de Jesús. Veo al Señor mirando hacia su Padre para tener fuerza para perseverar en Sus sufrimientos y ofrecerlos para nuestra salvación. Es un recordatorio para mí pedir la ayuda del Padre cuando estoy luchando con mis cruces, así como ofrecerlas para mi salvación y la de mis hermanos y hermanas.
La imagen no es necesariamente una imagen precisa del evento real. Tal vez, Jesús estaba demasiado débil para incluso mantener la cabeza erguida. Sin embargo, representa el estado interior de su alma. Confió en su Padre para pedir ayuda, incluso cuando se sentía abandonado. También destaca la perseverancia y la voluntad de Jesús de ofrecerse a sí mismo por nuestra salvación y obedecer la voluntad de Dios, Su Padre.
Todavía recuerdo haberme sorprendido cuando me dijeron por primera vez que Jesús estaría dispuesto a pasar por toda la Pasión incluso si yo fuera el único que necesitaba ser salvo. Entonces me acordé de Jesús diciendo: “Yo soy el Buen Pastor.”
En el Evangelio de Lucas 15: 3-7, escuchamos su parábola de la oveja perdida. El pastor está dispuesto a abandonar el 99 para buscar al perdido. Eso me dice que Jesús, el Buen Pastor, ama tanto a cada uno de nosotros individualmente, que está dispuesto a sacrificarse por cada uno de nosotros. ¿Cómo totalmente impresionante es nuestro Dios?!
Podría ser bueno para nosotros reflexionar esta semana sobre la grandeza del amor de Dios para cada uno de nosotros, especialmente en Su Pasión. Cuando se le insultaba y le decían que bajara de la cruz, Él escogió permanecer, a pesar de que podría haber salvado fácilmente todo ese sufrimiento.
El amor de Dios está más allá de nuestra comprensión, y nuestra capacidad de devolver adecuadamente ese amor es débil en comparación. Esto se debe a nuestra humanidad. Incluso St. Katharine Drexel a menudo le pedía al Señor que la ayudara a “amarlo como él merecía ser amado.” Tal vez, esa también podría ser nuestra oración, especialmente en el tiempo de la Santa Comunión.
El Señor se humilla tanto como para darse a nosotros bajo la forma de pan para ser comido por nosotros. Me encanta el hermoso himno “Panis Angelicus” en el que el compositor expresa su maravilla por el amor de Dios.
Pan de los Ángeles,
Hizo el pan de los hombres;
El pan del cielo
Pone fin a todos los símbolos:
Una cosa maravillosa!
El Señor se convierte en nuestro alimento:
Pobre, siervo y humilde.
Te rogamos,
Dios Uno en Tres
Que nos visiten,
Como Te adoramos,
Guíanos por tus caminos,
Nosotros que deseamos alcanzar la luz
En la que habitas.
Amén.
Your weekly message is so beautiful; thank you for focusing on God’s love. It was Jesus’ intense love of his Father and for mankind that sustained him on the road to Calvary. He demonstrated the Father’s love, mercy and compassion as he performed physical healings, forgave sinners, and mended broken spirits. Warren Mueller writes, “The love of Jesus is the most precious, personal and intense of relationships. Believers must learn to live in daily, if not momentary dependence on Jesus, seeking his will and experiencing his presence. “
ReplyDeleteIt is in and through the love and presence of Jesus that we experience joy and courage to do his will. We begin to notice insights and blessings beyond what we could have imagined. We find comfort through this loving presence when we are called to carry our crosses. We, too, experience strippings, beatings, and losses along our path. It is helpful to know that our Lord went through all the pain, suffering and emotions that we will ever find ourselves going through. When we cry out, feeling as though we have been abandoned, we will be comforted knowing that Christ is right there with us. An intimate relationship with Jesus keeps us aware of his nearness.
I share with you and your readers a Meditation on Jesus' life of love by Henri Nouwen:
“Your heavenly Father saw the desperation of humanity. He saw the greed, lust, anger, resentment, violence and destruction with which, we your people, tried to find a way to peace and harmony. Instead of this peace, we found only conflict and war.”
“But your Father’s love was so unlimited that he wanted us to know that love and to find in it the fulfillment of our deepest desires. So, he sent us you, with a human heart big enough to hold all human loneliness and all human anguish. Your heart is not a heart of stone, but a heart of flesh; your heart of flesh is not narrowed by human sin and unfaithfulness, but is as wide and deep as divine love itself…Your heart is open to receive anyone with total, unrestricted love. For anyone who wants to come to you, there is room. You want to draw all people to yourself and offer them a home where every human desire is met, every human longing comes to rest and every human need is satisfied.”
“You did everything to show us your love and your Father’s love. You became a small, dependent child to show us yourself in your weakness; you became a refugee in Egypt to show us your solidarity with all who are driven from their homes; you grew up in obedience to your parents to show us how close you are as we search for a true identity; you worked for many years as a simple carpenter to show us how you wanted to be with us in our daily work; you were tempted in the desert to show us how to resist the forces of evil around us; you surrounded yourself with disciples to show us how to share our vision with others and to work together in ministry; you preached the word of God to show us your truth and how to become, ourselves, witnesses to truth; you healed the sick and raised the dead to show us that your presence gave life to the whole person, body and soul; you were transfigured to show us your divine splendor; you went the long road of suffering and death to show us that you did not want to remain an outsider even in the most painful of all human experiences. You, the eternal Word of the Father, kept making choices that brought you closer and closer to us, to reveal to us the boundless love of your heart.”
You invite me to come to you – if I am tired, thirsty, distressed or sad. You invite me to trust in you.
“I hear your words, Jesus. I want to hear them with my whole being so that your words can become flesh in me and form a dwelling place for you. Please keep helping me in my many moments of distrust and doubt. Never let me leave you. Help me walk with you today, tomorrow and always.”
Until at the end of my earthly days, I can utter your words, “it is finished,” and surrender my spirit to you.