Ash Wednesday
Repent
Let us fix our attention on the blood of Christ and recognize how precious it is to God his Father, since it was shed for our salvation and brought the grace of repentance to all the world. If we review the various ages of history, we will see that in every generation the Lord has offered the opportunity of repentance to any who were willing to turn to him. When Noah preached God's message of repentance, all who listened to him were saved. Jonah told the Ninevites they were going to be destroyed, but when they repented, their prayers gained God's forgiveness for their sins, and they were saved, even though they were not of God's people.
Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the ministers of God's grace have spoken of repentance; indeed, the Master of the whole universe himself spoke of repentance with an oath: As I live, says the Lord, I do not wish the death of the sinner but his repentance. He added the evidence of his goodness: House of Israel, repent of your wickedness. Tell the sons of my people: If their sins should reach from earth to heaven, if they are brighter than scarlet and blacker than sackcloth, you need only turn to me with your whole heart and say, "Father", and I will listen to you as to a holy people.
In other words, God wanted all his beloved ones to have the opportunity to repent and he confirmed this desire by his own almighty will. That is why we should obey his sovereign and glorious will and prayerfully entreat his mercy and kindness. We should be suppliant before him and turn to his compassion, rejecting empty works and quarreling and jealousy which only lead to death.
Brothers, we should be humble in mind, putting aside all arrogance, pride and foolish anger. Rather, we should act in accordance with the Scriptures, as the Holy Spirit says: The wise man must no glory in his wisdom nor the strong man in his strength nor the rich man in his riches. Rather, let him who glories glory in the Lord by seeking him and doing what is right and just. Recall especially what the Lord Jesus said when he taught gentleness and forbearance. Be merciful, he said, so that you may have mercy shown to you. Forgive, so that you may be forgiven. As you treat others, so you will be treated. As you give, so you will receive. As you judge, so you will be judged. As you are kind to others, so you will be treated kindly. The measure of your giving will be the measure of your receiving.
Let these commandments and precepts strengthen us to live in humble obedience to his sacred words. As scripture asks: Whom shall I look upon with favor except the humble, peaceful man who trembles at my words?
Sharing then in the heritage of so many vast and glorious achievements, let us hasten toward the goal of peace, set before us from the beginning. Let us keep our eyes firmly fixed on the Father and Creator of the whole universe, and hold fast to his splendid and transcendent gifts of peace and all his blessings.
- From a letter to the Corinthians by Clement, 1st century
Thursday after Ash Wednesday
Readings: Dt 30:15-20; Ps 1; Lk 9:22-25
Today's readings set before us clear directives with concomitant results. If we obey the Lord, we will live (Dt 30). If we meditate on God's law, we will be happy (Ps 1). If we give up our life for Christ's sake, we will save it (Lk 9). At times the spiritual life follows the cause-effect pattern in today's readings, and we expect certain blessings for certain good deeds. But what about the times when we pray and our prayer isn't answered? What happens when hardships result for our good deeds? What happens when we endure suffering and death but no resurrection raises us three days or even three years later? Our first response may be to relinquish our prayer and good deeds or repress the suffering. But instead of quitting or fleeing in the opposite direction, we should entrench ourselves more deeply into the pain. The way up is by the way down. Jesus teaches us this new pattern when he says, "The Son of Man must first endure many sufferings, be rejected by the elders, the high priests and the scribes, and be put to death, and then raised up on the third day.
Prayer: When things go wrong today, Lord, let me remember that down is up.
Activity: Give an unexpected result - for example, speak positively in response to harsh words, or say yes when a no is expected.
-mediation taken from Backpack Meditations For Lent by Valerie Schneider, pg 3
Friday after Ash Wednesday
Reading: Lk 5:27-32
Levi let go of his security. He had a profession, a lucrative position, the esteem of his colleagues. Yet when he heard "Follow me," he left everything. The gospel doesn't tell us what a wrenching experience this was, as most changes of occupation or ministry are, especially when they seem to be "a step down" or they aren't understood by family, friends, and co-workers. Maybe Levi threw the party, the "great reception," to deaden the pain or enjoy himself one more time before his money ran out.
When we feel the urge to change an occupation, or take on a new ministry, or alter our lifestyle, who or what is calling us? If it is the Lord, do we have the courage to respond, to leap with or without much faith? Do we let others assist us during the wrenching process? When others make major changes in work or ministry, are we sensitive to them in their pain?
Prayer: Lord, when you call "Follow me," help me to respond at least half-heartedly.
Activity: "Throw a little party" - that is, be good to yourself or someone else who is in the pain of transition.
-mediation taken from Backpack Meditations For Lent by Valerie Schneider, pg 5
Saturday after Ash Wednesday
Readings: Lv 19:1, 11-18; Mt 25: 31-46
Today's readings put the equal sign between holiness and practical charity. Saint Paul tells us that the greatest gift is love, and Saint John teaches that God is love. As huge as love is, though, it is never too big to take the tiniest good deed or kind word under its name. As a matter of fact, today's gospel tells us that salvation depends upon small and big common sense acts of love: if someone's hungry, feed him; if someone's thirsty, give her a drink; when people are sick, comfort them. These simple common sense acts of love of neighbor equal love of God. These two loves are mutually encompassing, blending with each other and revealing the other. To separate the two means we do not take seriously enough the fact that what we do for one of the least, we do for God. Conversely, what I do for God affects me and the rest of the world.
Do I look after those in need? Meister Eckhart says that often we say to the poor person, "May God look after you." Although God does care about his poor ones, calling them "happy" (Mt 5:3), he depends on us to show his compassion. Will someone know God's compassion today because of me? The Christian life is one of service; its reward is heaven. In heaven the life of service continues. There we continue our being "toward" others in God. If we're looking for repose, heaven isn't the place. We'll be too busy loving in the great unity of love, humbly serving others by helping them become their full selves.
Prayer: Lord give me common sense holiness.
Activity: Feed someone today with material, psychological or spiritual food.
-mediation taken from Backpack Meditations For Lent by Valerie Schneider, pg 7
February 13, 2005
1st Sunday in Lent
A Few Drops of Blood Renews the Whole World
"Many indeed are the wondrous happenings of that time: God hanging from a cross, the sun made dark and again flaming out; for it was fitting that creation should mourn with its creator. The temple veil rent, blood and water flowing from his side: the one as from a man, the other as from what was above man; the earth shaken, the rocks shattered because of the rock; the dead risen to bear witness to the final and universal resurrection of the dead. The happenings at the sepulcher and after the sepulcher, who can fittingly recount them? Yet no one of them can be compared to the miracle of my salvation. A few drops of blood renew the whole world, and do for all men what the rennet does for the milk: joining us and binding us together.
-by Gregory Nazianzen (c. 329-389)
February 14
Monday of the first week in Lent
What We Behold On The Cross
"As they were looking on, so we too gaze on his wounds as he hangs. We see his blood as he dies. We see the price offered by the redeemer, touch the scars of his resurrection. He bows his head, as if to kiss you. His heart is made bare open, as it were, in love to you. His arms are extended that he may embrace you. His whole body is displayed for your redemption. Ponder how great these things are. Let all this be rightly weighed in your mind: as he was once fixed to the cross in every part of his body for you, so he may now be fixed in every part of your soul."
-by Augustine of Hippo (c. 354-430)
February 15
Tuesday of the first week in Lent
The Lamb that was slain has delivered us from death and given us life
There was much proclaimed by the prophets about the mystery of the Passover: that mystery is Christ, and to him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
For the sake of suffering humanity he came down from heaven to earth, clothed himself in that humanity in the Virgin's womb, and was born a man. Having then a body capable of suffering, he took the pain of fallen man upon himself; he triumphed over the diseases of soul and body that were its cause, and by his Spirit, which was incapable of dying, he dealt man's destroyer, death, a fatal blow.
He was led forth like a lamb; he was slaughtered like a sheep. He ransomed us from our servitude to the world, as he had ransomed Israel from the hand of Egypt; he freed us from our slavery to the devil, as he had freed Israel from the hand of Pharaoh. He sealed our souls with his own Spirit, and the members of our body with his own blood.
He is the One who covered death with shame and cast the devil into mourning, as Moses cast Pharaoh into mourning . He is the One that smote sin and robbed iniquity of offspring, as Moses robbed the Egyptians of their offspring. He is the One who brought us out of slavery into freedom, out of darkness into light, out of death into life, out of tyranny into an eternal kingdom; who made us a new priesthood, a people chosen to be his own for ever. He is the Passover that is our salvation.
It is he who endured every kind of suffering in all those who foreshadowed him. In Abel he was slain, in Isaac bound, in Jacob exiled, in Joseph sold, in Moses exposed to die. He was sacrificed in the Passover lamb, persecuted in David, dishonored in the prophets.
It is he who was made man of the Virgin, he who was hung on the tree; it is he who was buried in the earth, raised from the dead, and taken up to the heights of heaven. He is the mute lamb, the slain lamb born of Mary, the fair ewe. He was seized from the flock, dragged off to be slaughtered, sacrificed in the evening, and buried at night. On the tree no bone of his was broken; in the earth his body knew no decay. He is the One who rose from the dead, and who raised man from the depths of the tomb.
-From an Easter homily by Melito of Sardis, 2nd century
February 16
Wednesday of the first week in Lent
He has given us life; He has also taught us how to pray
Dear brothers, the commands of the Gospel are nothing else than God’s lessons, the foundations on which to build up hope, the supports for strengthening faith, the food that nourishes the heart. They are the rudder for keeping us on the right course, the protection that keeps our salvation secure. As they instruct the receptive minds of believers on earth, they lead safely to the kingdom of heaven.
God willed that many things should be said by the prophets, his servants, and listened to by his people. How much greater are the things spoken by the Son. These are now witnessed to by the very word of God who spoke through the prophets. The Word of God does not now command us to prepare the way for his coming: he comes in person and opens up the way for us and directs us toward it. Before, we wandered in the darkness of death, aimlessly and blindly. Now we are enlightened by the light of grace, and are to keep to the highway of life, with the Lord to precede and direct us.
The Lord has given us many counsels and commandments to help us toward salvation. He has even given us a pattern of prayer, instructing us on how we are to pray. He has given us life, and with his accustomed generosity, he has also taught us how to pray. He has made it easy for us to be heard as we pray to the Father in the words taught us by the Son.
He has already foretold that the hour was coming when true worshipers would worship the Father in spirit and in truth. He fulfilled what he had promised before, so that we who have received the spirit and the truth through the holiness he has give us may worship in truth and in the spirit through the prayer he has taught.
What prayer could be more a prayer in the spirit than the one given us by Christ, by whom the Holy Spirit was sent upon us? What prayer could be more a prayer in the truth than the one spoken by the lips of the Son, who is truth himself? It follows that to pray in any other way than the Son has taught us is not only the result of ignorance but of sin. He himself has commanded it, and has said: You reject the command of God, to set up your own tradition.
So, my brothers, let us pray as God our master has taught us. To ask the Father in words his Son has given us, to let him hear the prayer of Christ ringing in his ears, is to make our prayer one of friendship, a family prayer. Let the Father recognize the words of his Son. Let the son who lives in our hearts be also on our lips. We have him as an advocate for sinners before the Father; when we ask for forgiveness for ours sins, let us use the words given by our advocate. He tells us: Whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you. What more effective prayer could we then make in the name of Christ than in the words of his own prayer?
- From a treatise on the Lord's Prayer by Cyprian, 3rd century
February 17
Thursday of the first week in Lent
The precious and life-giving cross of Christ
How precious the gift of the cross, how splendid to contemplate! In the cross there is no mingling of good and evil, as in the tree of paradise: it is wholly beautiful to behold and good to taste. The fruit of this tree is not death but life, not darkness but light. This tree does not cast us out of paradise, but opens the way for our return.
This was the tree on which Christ, like a king on a chariot, destroyed the devil, the lord of death, and freed the human race from his tyranny. This was the tree upon which the Lord like a brave warrior wounded in hands, feet and side, healed the wounds of sin that the evil serpent had inflicted on our nature. A tree once caused our death, but now a tree brings life. Once deceived by a tree, we have now repelled the cunning serpent by a tree. What an astonishing transformation! That death should become life, that decay should become immortality, that shame should become glory! Well might the holy Apostle exclaim: Far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world! The supreme wisdom that flowered on the cross has shown the folly of worldly wisdom's pride. The knowledge of all good, which is the fruit of the cross, has cut away the shoots of wickedness.
The wonders accomplished through this tree were foreshadowed clearly even by the mere types and figures that existed in the past. Meditate on these, if you are eager to learn. Was it not the wood of a tree that enabled Noah, at God's command, to escape the destruction of the flood together with his sons, his wife, his sons' wives and every kind of animal? And surely the rod of Moses prefigured the cross when it changed water into blood, swallowed up the false serpents of Pharaoh's magicians, divided the sea at one stroke and then restored the waters to their normal course, drowning the enemy and saving God's own people? Aaron's rod, which blossomed in one day in proof of his true priesthood, was another figure of the cross, and did not Abraham foreshadow the cross when he bound his son Isaac and placed him on the pile of wood?
By the cross death was slain and Adam was restored to life. The cross is the glory of all the apostles, the crown of the martyrs, the sanctification of the saints. By the cross we put on Christ and cast aside our former self. By the cross we, the sheep of Christ, have been gathered into one flock, destined for the sheepfold of heaven.
- From a sermon by Theodore the Studite, 9th century
February 18
Friday of the first week in Lent
In Christ we suffered temptation, and in Him we overcame the devil
Hear, O God, my petition, listen to my prayer. Who is speaking? An individual, it seems. See if it is an individual: I cried to you from the ends of the earth while my heart was in anguish. Now it is no longer one person; rather, it is one in the sense that Christ is one, and we are all his members. What single individual can cry from the ends of the earth? The one who cries from the ends of the earth is none other than the Son's inheritance. It was said to him: Ask of me, and I shall give you the nations as your inheritance, and the ends of the earth as your possession. This possession of Christ, this inheritance of Christ, this body of Christ, this one church of Christ, this unity that we are, cries from the ends of the earth. What does it cry? What I said before: Hear, O God, my petition, listen to my prayer; I cried to you from the ends of the earth. That is, I made this cry to you from the ends of the earth; that is, on all sides.
Why did I make this cry? While my heart was in anguish. The speaker shows that he is present among all the nations of the earth in a condition, not of exalted glory but of severe trial.
Our pilgrimage on earth cannot be exempt from trial. We progress by means of trial. No one knows himself except through trial, or receives a crown except after victory, or strives except against an enemy or temptations.
The one who cries from the ends of the earth is in anguish, but is not left on his own. Christ chose to foreshadow us, who are his body, by means of his body, in which he has died, risen and ascended into heaven, so that the members of his body may hope to follow where their head has gone before.
He made us one with him when he chose to be tempted by Satan. We have heard in the gospel how the Lord Jesus Christ was tempted by the devil in the wilderness. Certainly Christ received his flesh from your nature, but his own power gained salvation for you; he suffered death in your nature, but by his own power gained life for you; he suffered insults in your nature, but by his own power gained glory for you; therefore, he suffered temptation in your nature, but by his own power gained victory for you.
If in Christ we have been tempted, in him we overcome the devil. Do you think only of Christ's temptations and fail to think of his victory? See yourself as tempted in him, and see yourself as victorious in him. He could have kept the devil from himself; but if he were not tempted he could not teach you how to triumph over temptation.
- From a commentary on the psalms by Augustine, 5th century
February 19
Saturday of the first week in Lent
The Cross of Christ is the source of all blessings, the cause of all graces
Our understanding, which is enlightened by the Spirit of truth, should receive with purity and freedom of heart the glory of the cross as it shines in heaven and on earth. It should see with inner vision the meaning of the Lord's words when he spoke of the imminence of his passion: The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Afterward he said: Now my soul is troubled, and what am I to say? Father, save me from this hour. But it was for this I came to this hour. Father, glorify your Son. When the voice of the Father came from heaven, saying, I have glorified him, and will glorify him again, Jesus said in reply to those around him: It was not for me that this voice spoke, but for you. Now is the judgment of the world, now will the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to myself.
How marvelous the power of the cross; how great beyond all telling the glory of the passion. Here is the judgment-seat of the Lord, the condemnation of the world, the supremacy of Christ crucified.
Lord, you drew all things to yourself so that the devotion of all peoples everywhere might celebrate, in a sacrament made perfect and visible, what was carried out in the one temple of Judea under obscure foreshadowings. Now there is a more distinguished order of Levites, a greater dignity for the rank of elders, a more sacred anointing for the priesthood, because your cross is the source of all blessings, the cause of all graces. Through the cross the faithful receive strength from weakness, glory from dishonor, life from death.
The different sacrifices of animals are no more: the one offering of your body and blood is the fulfillment of all the different sacrificial offerings, for you are the true Lamb of God: you take away the sins of the world. In yourself you bring to perfection all mysteries, so that, as there is one sacrifice in place of all other sacrificial offerings, there is also one kingdom gathered from all peoples.
Dearly beloved, let us then acknowledge what Saint Paul, the teacher of the nations, acknowledged so exultantly: This is a saying worthy of trust, worthy of complete acceptance: Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners.
God's compassion for us is all the more wonderful because Christ died, not for the righteous or the holy but for the wicked and the sinful, and, though the divine nature could not be touched by the sting of death, he took to himself, through his birth as one of us, something he could offer on our behalf.
The power of his death once confronted our death. In the words of Hosea the prophet: Death, I shall be your death; grave, I shall swallow you up. By dying he submitted to the laws of the underworld; by rising again he destroyed them. He did away with the everlasting character of death so as to make death a thing of time, not of eternity. As all die in Adam, so all will be brought to life in Christ.
-From a sermon by Leo the Great,5th century
February 20
Sunday of the second week in Lent
HE BORE OUR PRIDE IN HIS
BODY ON THE CROSS
The cross is the tomb which absorbs all human pride: "Come thus far; I said, and no farther: here your proud waves shall break” (Job 38:11). The waves of human pride break against the rock of Calvary and they can go no further. The wall God erected against them is too high and the abyss he dug before them too deep. 'We must realize that our former selves have been crucified with him to destroy this sinful body' (Rm 6:6). The body of pride -- for this is the sin par excellence, the sin that gives rise to all other sins. 'He was bearing our faults in his own body on the cross' (1 Peter 2:24). He bore our pride in his body.
But what concerns us in all this? Where is the 'gospel', the good and joyful news? It is that Jesus humbled himself also for me, in my place. 'If one man has died for all, then all have died' (2 Co 5:14); one has humbled himself for all, therefore all have humbled themselves. Jesus on the cross is the new Adam obeying for all. He is the head, the beginning of a new mankind. He acts in the name of all and for the benefit of all. As 'by one man's obedience many will be made righteous' (Rom 5:19), by one man's humility, many will be made humble.
Pride, like disobedience, is no longer part of us. It is part of the Old Adam. It has become old-fashioned. The new thing now is humility, which is full of hope because it opens up a new existence based on giving, love and solidarity and no longer on competitiveness, social climbing and taking advantage of one another. 'The old creation has gone, and now the new one is here' (2 Co 5:17). Humility is one of these marvelous new things.
What, therefore, does it mean to celebrate the mystery of the cross 'in spirit and in truth'? When applied to what we are celebrating, what is the significance of the ancient maxim: 'Acknowledge what you are doing, imitate what you are celebrating'? It signifies that you should implement within yourself what you represent externally.
...I must give Christ 'the sinful body of my pride', so that he can destroy it de facto just as he destroyed it by right once and for all on the cross. Each one of us should throw, in spirit, his load of pride, vanity, self-sufficiency, presumption, haughtiness into the great furnace of Christ's passion. We must imitate the saints in heaven as they adore the Lamb, for this is the model for our adoration here on earth. Revelation tells us the saints approach the throne in procession and fall down before him who is seated and they 'threw down their crowns in front of the throne' (Rev 4:10). They cast the real crowns of their martyrdom, and we cast the false crown with which we have crowned ourselves. We must 'nail all feelings of pride to the cross' (St Augustine, On Christian Doctrine 2,7,9).
-Raniero Cantalamessa OFM Cap. is the preacher to the Papal Household. This is excerpted from his book, The Power of the Cross, (c) 1994 and 1996, published by Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd, London
February 21
Monday of the second week in Lent
HE BORE OUR PRIDE IN HIS
BODY ON THE CROSS
On the cross Jesus did not just reveal or practice humility; he created it too. True Christian humility consists in participating in Christ's inner state on the cross. St Paul says, 'In your minds you must be the same as Jesus Christ' (Phil. 2:5); the same mind and not a similar one. Apart from this, many other things can be taken for humility which are really either natural inclination or timidness, or a liking for understatement, or simply common sense and intelligence, when they are not a refined form of pride.
Once we have put on Christ's humility, it will be easier, among other things, to work for Christian unity, for unity and peace naturally follow humility. This is also true in families. Marriage starts with an act of humility. A young man who falls in love and who on his knees, as was once the custom, asks a girl to marry him, makes the most radical act of humility in his life. He begs and it is as if he were saying, 'Give me yourself. Alone, I am not sufficient to myself, I need you!' We could say that God created humankind male and female to help them to be humble, not to be haughty and self-sufficient, and to discover the blessing od depending on someone who loves you. He inscribed humility in our very flesh. But, unfortunately, pride too often takes over again and the person we love has to pay for the initial need we had of him or her. Then a dreadful wall of pride rises between the two partners and their incommunicability extinguishes all joy. This evening, Christian spouses are also invited to place all resentment at the foot of the cross, to be reconciled to one another, embracing each other for the sake of Christ who, on this day on the cross, 'killed the hostility' (Ephesians 2:16).
February 22
Tuesday of the second week in Lent
CONTEMPLATING THE LORD'S PASSION
True reverence for the Lord's passion means fixing the eyes of our heart on Jesus crucified and recognizing in him our own humanity. The earth - our earthly nature - should tremble at the suffering of its Redeemer. The rocks - the hearts of unbelievers - should come forth, the massive stones now ripped apart. Foreshadowings of the future resurrection should appear in the holy city, the church of God: what is happen to our bodies should now take place in our hearts.
No one, however weak, is denied a share in the victory of the cross. No one is beyond the help of the prayer of Christ. His prayer brought benefit to the multitude that raged against him. How much more does it bring to those who turn to him in repentance.
Ignorance has been destroyed, obstinacy has been overcome. The sacred blood of Christ has quenched the flaming sword that barred access to the tree of life. The age-old night of sin has given place to the true light.
The Christian people are invited to share the riches of paradise. All who have been reborn have the way open before them to return to their native land, from which they had been exiled. Unless indeed they close off for themselves the path that could be opened before the faith of a thief.
The business of this life should not preoccupy us with its anxiety and pride, so that we no longer strive with all the love of our heart to be like our Redeemer, and to follow his example. Everything that he did or suffered was for our salvation: he wanted his body to share the goodness of its head.
First of all, in taking our human nature while remaining God, so that the Word became man, he left no member of the human race, the unbeliever excepted, without a share in his mercy. Who does not share a common nature with Christ if he has welcomed Christ, who took our nature, and is reborn in the Spirit through whom Christ was conceived?
Again, who cannot recognize in Christ his own infirmities? Who would not recognize that Christ's eating and sleeping, his sadness and his shedding tears of love are marks of the nature of a slave?
It was this nature of a slave that had to be healed of its ancient wounds and cleansed of the defilement of sin. For that reason the only- begotten Son of God became also the son of man. He was to have both the reality of human nature and the fullness of the Godhead.
The body that lay lifeless in the tomb is ours. The body that rose again on the third day is ours. The body that ascended above all the heights of heaven to the right hand of the Father's glory is ours. If then we walk in the way of his commandments, and are not ashamed to acknowledge the price he paid for our salvation in a lowly body, we too are to rise to share his glory. The promise he made will be fulfilled in the sight of all: Whoever acknowledges me before men, I too will acknowledge him before my Father who is in heaven.
-From a sermon by Leo the Great, 5th century
February 23
Wednesday of the second week in Lent
By One Death and Resurrection the World Was Saved
When mankind was estranged from him by disobedience, God our Savior made a plan for raising us from our fall and restoring us to friendship with himself. According to this plan Christ came in the flesh, he showed us the gospel way of life, he suffered, died on the cross, was buried and rose from the dead. He did this so that we could be saved by imitation of him, and recover our original status as sons of God by adoption.
To attain holiness, then, we must not only pattern our lives on Christ's by being gentle, humble and patient, we must also imitate him in his death. Taking Christ for his model, Paul said that he wanted to become like him in his death in the hope that he too would be raised from death to life.
We imitate Christ's death by being buried with him in baptism. If we ask what this kind of burial means and what benefit we may hope to derive from it, it means first of all making a complete break with our former way of life, and our Lord himself said that this cannot be done unless a man is born again. In other words, we have to begin a new life, and we cannot do so until our previous life has been brought to an end. When runners reach the turning point on a racecourse, they have to pause briefly before they can go back in the opposite direction. So also when we wish to reverse the direction of our lives there must be a pause, or a death, to mark the end of one life and the beginning of another.
Our descent into hell takes place when we imitate the burial of Christ by our baptism. The bodies of the baptized are in a sense buried in the water as a symbol of their renunciation of sins of their unregenerate nature. As the Apostle says: The circumcision you have undergone is not an operation performed by human hands, but the complete stripping away of your unregenerate nature. This is the circumcision that Christ gave us, and it is accomplished by our burial with him in baptism. Baptism cleanses the soul from the pollution of worldly thoughts and inclinations: You will wash me, says the psalmist, and I shall be wither than snow. We receive this saving baptism only once because there was only one death and one resurrection for the salvation of the world, and baptism is its symbol.
-From the book On the Holy Spirit by Basil the Great, 4th century
February 24
Thursday of the second week in Lent
THE THRONE OF LOVE
"We venerate the cross as a safeguard of faith, as the strengthening of hope and the throne of love. It is the sign of mercy, the proof of forgiveness, the vehicle of grace and the banner of peace. We venerate the cross, because it has broken down our pride, shattered our envy, redeemed our sin and atoned for our punishment.
"The cross of Christ is the door to heaven, the key to paradise, the downfall of the devil, the uplifting of mankind, the consolation of our imprisonment, the prize for our freedom. The cross was the hope of the patriarchs, the promise of the prophets, the triumph of kings and the ministry of priests. Tyrants are convicted by the cross and the mighty ones defeated, it lifts up the miserable and honors the poor. The cross is the end of darkness, the spreading of light, the flight of death, the ship of life and the kingdom of salvation.
"Whatever we accomplish for God, whatever we succeed and hope for, is the fruit of our veneration of the cross. By the cross Christ draws everything to him. It is the kingdom of the Father, the scepter of the Son and the seal of the Holy Spirit, a witness to the total Trinity."
-by Rupert, Abbot of Deutz, early 12th century
February 25
Friday of the second week in Lent
"Christ entered once for all into the Holy Place"
Pt 1 of 2
Scripture: Read this passage today along with the meditation - Hebrews 9:1-28
Christ's death on the cross replaced the sacrifices of the old covenant. It did not cancel them or destroy their significance, but it replaced them by fulfilling them. What the ceremonies of the old covenant sought — the forgiveness of sins and restoration of relationship with God — was achieved by Christ's death and resurrection. Since the once sacrifice of Christ truly accomplished all that the many sacrifices of the old covenant sought and only partially reached, his sacrifice "fulfilled" those old covenant sacrifices.
The death of Christ is spoken about as a sacrifice in the New Testament more often than as a payment or a punishment. In First Corinthians 5:7 we read, "...Christ, our paschal lamb, has been sacrificed." In Ephesians 5:2 we read, "Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and a sacrifice to God." Hebrews 9:26 states that Christ "appeared at the end of the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself."
Christ's death was directed to God and intended to affect God in some way. As Ephesians 5:2 states, "He gave himself as a sacrifice to God." God was the object of the sacrificial death of Christ. What happened in his redemptive work was directed to God in worship and homage and was intended to affect him. To see Christ's death as an expression of God's love for us or as a good example for us to imitate misses the central aspect if his death if it was a sacrifice. A sacrifice is directed to God, not to us.
This understanding of sacrifice also tells us something about why death was necessary for Christ. A death, after all, is not a very good gift — especially not the bloody death of a beloved Son. But the death of Christ on the cross was not an offering of death to God. It was the way Christ gave his life in sacrifice to God.
February 26
Saturday of the second week in Lent
"Christ entered once for all into the Holy Place"
Pt 2 of 2
Scripture: Read this passage today along with the meditation - Hebrews 9:1-28
Christ "offered himself without blemish to God" (Hebrews 9:14). He "put away sin by the sacrifice of himself" (Hebrews 9:26). He "gave himself as a sacrifice to God" (Ephesians 5:2). Christ made himself an offering, a sacrifice to God, a gift that was truly pleasing to his Father. We were saved by Christ's blood because we were saved by his life made over to God through a killing which made it a true sacrificial offering.
Christ's death on the cross fulfilled the sacrificial offering on the Day of Atonement. On this day atonement was made for all the sins and uncleanness of the people of Israel that had not been previously atoned for by specific sacrifices. As the same time the temple with the altar — the place of God's presence — was purified from the defilement due to its contact with unclean people. In fulfilling the offerings on the Day of Atonement, Christ's sacrifice on the cross purified God's people from all of their sin and uncleanness so they could be the place of the presence of the holy God. Moreover, as Isaiah 53 indicates, Christ atoned not simply for Israelites but also for Gentiles, so that their hearts might be cleansed through faith in him and in what he did (see Acts 15:9).
The New Testament also describes Christ's sacrifice as a sacrifice for sin (Hebrews 9:12). Atonement for sin was an integral part of the great ceremonies of old covenant. It made possible the establishment, restoration, and strengthening of relationship with God. Christ himself understood his death to be a sacrifice for sin. When at the last Supper he described his blood as "poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins" (Matthew 26:28), he was explaining his coming crucifixion as a sacrifice for sins. In alluding to Isaiah 53:10-12, Christ also seemed to be asserting he would offer a sacrifice that was not just for a specific sinful action or offense of some individual. It was a corporate sacrifice for sin, a sacrifice for a body of people (see Leviticus 4:13-21). It was, moreover, not just a sin offering for the people of Israel but for the whole human race.
"Lord Jesus Christ, by your death on a cross you have won pardon for our sins and you have opened the way for direct access to the throne of God. Help me to draw near with boldness and confidence that I may give you thanks and praise for your work of redemption."
February 27
Sunday of the third week in Lent
"Father, remove this cup from me; yet not what I will, but what you will"
Pt 1 of 2
Gospel reading: Matthew 26:31-46
Are you prepared for trial and testing? Jesus was put to the test at the beginning of his public ministry when Satan offered him power, position, and all the kingdoms under his dominion (Luke 4:1-13). Jesus had to wrestle with temptation and now he warns Peter that he, too, will have to struggle for his very life and soul. Peter was a courageous man. He gave up his business and everything he had to follow Jesus. Now he promises Jesus that he will go with him through any trouble, be it imprisonment or violent death. Satan knows both our weakness and our strength. And he often tests us in our strength to make us fall. Why is that the case? Where we are strongest we are often over-confident and unprepared with our guard down. Peter was passionately loyal to his Master, but he was unprepared for the test that was to come. Jesus not only warns Peter, but prays for him, and then calls him in turn to be a source of help and strength to his brothers when they face temptation. We often cannot help someone in their weakness and failure until we have suffered similar trial and shame. Because Jesus "himself has suffered and been tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted" (Hebrews 2:18).
Jesus did his best to prepare his disciples for what was to come -- his betrayal, rejection by his own people, and violent death on the cross. This was to fulfill what the scriptures and the prophets had foretold, that is was necessary for the Messiah to suffer before he entered into his glory. Jesus was tempted like us in everything but sin. Now he undergoes the worst temptation yet to face him, to accept or to reject the agony of death on a cross. Jesus had the power and the means to escape defeat and death at the hands of his enemies. But he choose the way of the cross for our sake and for our salvation. How do you face opposition, failure, trial, and rejection? Do you look to God for strength to overcome adversity with faith, trial with hope, and rejection with love? Jesus went to his favorite place of prayer, the Garden of Gethsemane, to face such trial and testing. In prayer to his Father in heaven he found the strength he needed, both to embrace the Father's will and to accept the suffering that must come his way in order to carry out that will. What is the cross that you and I must face each and every day? When my will "crosses" with God's will, then his will must be done. Are you ready to take up your cross to follow the Lord Jesus?
February 28
Monday of the third week in Lent
"Father, remove this cup from me; yet not what I will, but what you will"
Pt 2 of 2
Gospel reading: Matthew 26:31-46
In the Lord's prayer Jesus instructs his disciples to pray that we might not be "led into temptation". Sin results from our consenting to temptation. God wants to set us free from evil. We are engaged in a battle between "flesh and spirit", and so we must ask God for the Spirit of discernment and strength that might not take the way that leads to sin. The Holy Spirit helps us to discern between trials that are necessary and good for our spiritual growth (Romans 5:3-5, 2 Tim. 3:12), and temptation which leads to sin and spiritual death (James 1:14-15). Discernment unmasks the lie of temptation which makes sin look good and desirable, when in reality its fruit is death. That is why Satan is called the "father of lies". We must resist his lies and cling to the truth so that we may choose what is good rather than evil. If we decide in our heart that we want to choose what is good and to obey God, then God will surely give us the strength and help we need to overcome sin. Paul the Apostle tells us: "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your strength, but with the temptation will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it" (1 Corinthians. 10:13). We will only see victory in our struggle against temptation to sin if we take it to the Lord in prayer. It was by prayer that Jesus overcame his tempter in the struggle of his agony. We, too, must be vigilant in prayer and ask God for the strength and perseverance to be faithful to him to the end.
Satan will try his best to induce us to choose our will over God's will. If he cannot induce us to apostatize or to sin mortally, he will then try to get us to make choices that will lead us away from what God wants for us. Jesus was tempted like us and he overcame not by his own human strength but by the grace and strength which his Father gave to him. He had to renounce his will for the will of his Father. He succeeded because he wanted to please his Father and he trusted that his Father would give him the strength to overcome the obstacles that stood in the way. The Lord gives us his Holy Spirit to be our strength and guide and our consoler in temptation and testing. God the Father is ready to give us all that we need to live in his way of love and righteousness. Do you rely on the Lord for your strength and help?
"Lord, your word is life and joy for me. Fill me with your Holy Spirit that I may have the strength and courage to embrace your will in all things and to renounce whatever is contrary to it."
March 1
Tuesday of the third week in Lent
"Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord"
Scripture: Mark 11:1-10
"7 And they brought the colt to Jesus, and threw their garments on it; and he sat upon it. 8 And many spread their garments on the road, and others spread leafy branches which they had cut from the fields. 9 And those who went before and those who followed cried out, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"
Does the King of glory find a welcome entry in your heart and home? Jesus went to Jerusalem knowing full well what awaited him -- betrayal, rejection, and crucifixion. The people of Jerusalem, however, were ready to hail him as their Messianic King! Little did they know what it would cost this king to usher in his kingdom. Jesus' entry into Jerusalem astride a colt was a direct fulfillment of the Messianic prophecy of Zechariah (9:9): "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem. Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, and riding on an ass and upon a colt the foal of an ass." The colt was a sign of peace. Jesus enters Jerusalem in meekness and humility, as the Messianic King who brings victory and peace to his people. That victory and peace would be secured in the cross and resurrection which would take place in a matter of days at the time of Passover.
Augustine, the great 5th century church father, comments on the significance of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem: "The master of humility is Christ who humbled himself and became obedient even to death, even the death of the cross. Thus he does not lose his divinity when he teaches us humility. ..What great thing was it to the king of the ages to become the king of humanity? For Christ was not the king of Israel so that he might exact a tax or equip an army with weaponry and visibly vanquish an enemy. He was the king of Israel in that he rules minds, in that he gives counsel for eternity, in that he leads into the kingdom of heaven for those who believe, hope, and love. It is a condescension, not an advancement for one who is the Son of God, equal to the Father, the Word through whom all things were made, to become king of Israel. It is an indication of pity, not an increase in power." [Tractates on John 51.3-4]
Psalm 24 is another prophetic passage which echoes this triumphal procession of the King of glory: "Lift up your heads, O gates! and be lifted up, O ancient doors! that the King of glory may come in." Jesus Christ came to bring us the kingdom of God. He is the true King who offers peace, joy, and everlasting life for those who accept his kingship. Do you give the Lord Jesus full reign in your heart and in your home? And do your walls echo with the praise of his glory?
"Lord Jesus, be the King and Ruler of my heart, mind, life, and home. May my life reflect your meekness and humility that you may be honored as the King of glory!"
March 2
Wednesday of the third week in Lent
Extravagant love for Jesus Pt 1 of 2
Scripture: John 12:1-11
1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, ...There they made him a supper; Martha served, and Laz'arus was one of those at table with him. 3 Mary took a pound of costly ointment of pure nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment. ... Jesus said, "Let her alone, let her keep it for the day of my burial. 8 The poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me."
Do you know the love that knows no bounds? As Jesus dines with his beloved friends, Mary does something which only love can do. She took the most precious thing she had and spent it all on Jesus. Her love was not calculated but extravagant. Mary's action was motivated by one thing, and one thing only, namely, her love for Jesus and her gratitude for God’s mercy. She did something, however, a Jewish woman would never do in public. She loosed her hair and anointed Jesus with her tears. It was customary for a woman on her wedding day to bound her hair. For a married woman to loosen her hair in public was a sign of grave immodesty. Mary was oblivious to all around her, except for Jesus. She took no thought for what others would think, but what would please her Lord. In humility she stooped to anoint Jesus' feet and to dry them with her hair. How do you anoint the Lord’s feet and show him your love and gratitude?
March 3
Thursday of the third week in Lent
Extravagant love for Jesus Pt 2 of 2
Scripture: John 12:1-11
1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, ...There they made him a supper; Martha served, and Laz'arus was one of those at table with him. 3 Mary took a pound of costly ointment of pure nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment. ... Jesus said, "Let her alone, let her keep it for the day of my burial. 8 The poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me."
The gospel records that the whole house was filled with the perfume of the ointment. What Mary had done brought sweetness not only in the physical sense, but the spiritual sense as well. Her lovely deed shows the extravagance of love -- a love that we cannot outmatch. The Lord Jesus showed us the extravagance of his love in giving the best he had by pouring out his own blood for us and by anointing us with his Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul says that nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:39). Does the love of God rule in your heart, mind, and actions?
Why was Judas critical of Mary’s lovely deed? Judas viewed her act as extravagant wastefulness because of greed. A person views things according to what it inside the heart or soul. Judas was an embittered man and had a warped sense of what was precious and valuable, especially to God. Jesus had put Judas in charge of their common purse, no doubt because he was gifted in financial matters. The greatest temptation we can face will often come in the area of our greatest strength or gifting. Judas used money entrusted to him for wrong and hurtful purposes. He allowed greed and personal gain to corrupt his heart and to warp his view of things. He was critical towards Mary because he imputed unworthy motives. Do you examine your heart correctly when you impute wrong or unworthy motives towards others?
"Give us, Lord, a lively faith, a firm hope, a love of you. Take from us all lukewarmness in meditation, dullness in prayer. Give us fervor and delight in thinking of you and your grace, your tender compassion towards me. The things we pray for, good Lord, give us grace to labor for: through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Prayer of Sir Thomas More, 16th century)
March 4
Friday of the third week in Lent
"If the grain of wheat dies, it bears much fruit" Pt 1 of 2
Scripture: John 12:20-33
23 And Jesus answered them, "The hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If any one serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there shall my servant be also; if any one serves me, the Father will honor him.
What can a grain of wheat tell us about life in the kingdom of God? Jesus drew his parables from the common everyday circumstances of life. His audience, rural folk in Palestine, could easily understand the principle of new life from nature. Seeds cannot produce new life by themselves. They must first be planted in the earth before they can grow and produce fruit. What is the spiritual analogy which Jesus alludes to? Is this, perhaps, a veiled reference to his own impending death on the cross and resurrection? Or does he have another kind of "death and rebirth" in mind for his disciples? Jesus, no doubt, had both meanings in mind for his disciples. The image of the grain of wheat dying in the earth in order to grow and bear a harvest can be seen as a metaphor of Jesus' own death and burial in the tomb and his resurrection. Jesus knew that the only way to victory over the power of sin and death was through the cross. Jesus reversed the curse of our first parents' disobedience through his obedience to the Father's will -- his willingness to go to the cross to pay the just penalty for our sins and to defeat death once and for all. His obedience and death on the cross obtain for us freedom and new life in the Holy Spirit. His cross frees us from the tyranny of sin and death and shows us the way of perfect love.
If we want to experience the new life which Jesus offers, then the outer shell of our old, fallen nature, must be broken and put to death. In Baptism our “old nature” enslaved by sin is buried with Christ and we rise as a “new creation” in Christ. This process of death to the “old fallen self” is both a one-time event, such as baptism, and a daily, on-going cycle in which God buries us more deeply into Jesus’ death to sin so we might rise anew and bear fruit for God. There is a great paradox here. Death leads to life. When we "die" to our selves, we "rise" to new life in Jesus Christ.
March 5
Saturday of the third week in Lent
"If the grain of wheat dies, it bears much fruit" Pt 1 of 2
Scripture: John 12:20-33
23 And Jesus answered them, "The hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If any one serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there shall my servant be also; if any one serves me, the Father will honor him.
What does it mean to "die" to oneself? It certainly means that what is contrary to God's will must be "crucified" or "put to death". God gives us grace to say "yes" to his will and to reject whatever is contrary to his loving plan for our lives. Jesus also promises that we will bear much "fruit" for him, if we choose to deny ourselves for his sake. Jesus used forceful language to describe the kind of self-denial he had in mind for his disciples. What did he mean when he said that one must hate himself? The expression to hate something often meant to prefer less. Jesus says that nothing should get in the way of our preferring him and the will of our Father in heaven. Our hope is in Paul's reminder that "What is sown in the earth is subject to decay, what rises is incorruptible" (1 Cor. 15:42). Do you hope in the Lord and follow joyfully the path he has chosen for you?
"Lord, let me be wheat sown in the earth, to be harvested for you. I want to follow wherever you lead me. Give me fresh hope and joy in serving you all the days of my life." Lord, your gospel brings joy and freedom. May I be loyal to you always, even though it produce a cross on earth, that I may share in your crown in eternity".
March 6
Sunday of the fourth week in Lent
"All hold that John was a prophet"
Scripture: Matthew 21:23-27
23 And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, "By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?"
24 Jesus answered them, "I also will ask you a question; and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 The baptism of John, whence was it? From heaven or from men?"
And they argued with one another, "If we say, `From heaven,' he will say to us, `Why then did you not believe him?' 26 But if we say, `From men,' we are afraid of the multitude; for all hold that John was a prophet." 27 So they answered Jesus, "We do not know."
And he said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.
Are you willing to take a stand for the truth, even when it costs? Or do you look for the safe way out? Jesus told his disciples that the truth would make them free (John 8:32). Why were the religious leaders opposed to Jesus' and evasive with the truth? Did they fear the praise of their friends and neighbors more than the praise of God for those who stand up to his truth?
The coming of God's kingdom or reign on the earth will inevitably produce conflict -- a conflict of allegiance to God's will or my will, God's way of love and justice or the world's way of playing fair, God's standard of absolute moral truth or truth relative to what I want to believe is good and useful for the time being.
Why did the religious leaders oppose Jesus and reject his claim to divine authority? Their view of religion did not match with God's word because their hearts were set on personal gain rather than truth and submission to God's plan and design for their lives. They openly questioned Jesus to discredit his claim to be the Messiah. If Jesus says his authority is divine they will charge him with blasphemy. If he has done this on his own authority they might well arrest him as a mad zealot before he could do more damage.
Jesus, seeing through their trap, poses a question to them and makes their answer a condition for his answer. Did they accept the work of John the Baptist as divine or human? If they accepted John's work as divine, they would be compelled to accept Jesus as the Messiah. They dodged the question because they were unwilling to face the truth. They did not accept the Baptist and they would not accept Jesus as their Messiah. Do you know the joy and freedom of living according to God's truth?
"Lord Jesus Christ, you are the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Let your light shine in my heart and mind that I may know your truth and will for my life and find freedom and joy in living according to it."
March 7
Monday of the fourth week in Lent
Disloyalty versus fidelity
Scripture: John 13:18-20
18 I am not speaking of you all; I know whom I have chosen; it is that the scripture may be fulfilled, `He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.' 19 I tell you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he. 20 Truly, truly, I say to you, he who receives any one whom I send receives me; and he who receives me receives him who sent me."
How do you treat people who have caused you grief or disappointment, especially those who might be related to you in bonds of friendship or kinship? In his last supper discourse, Jesus addressed the issue of fidelity and disloyalty in relationships. Jesus knew beforehand that one of his own disciples would betray him. Such knowledge could have easily led Jesus to distance himself from such a man and to protect himself from harm’s way. Instead, Jesus shows affection and loyalty to those who were his own, even to the one he knew would do violence to him through betrayal.
Jesus used a quotation from Psalm 4:9 which describes an act of treachery by one’s closest friend. In the culture of Jesus’ day, to eat bread with someone was a gesture of friendship and trust. Jesus extends such friendship to Judas right at the moment when Judas is conspiring to betray his master. The expression "lift his heel against me" reinforces the brute nature of this act of violence.
Jesus loved his disciples to the end and proved his faithfulness to them even to death on the cross. Through his death and resurrection Jesus opened a new way of relationship and friendship with God. Jesus tells his disciples that if they accept him they also accept the Father who sent him. This principle extends to all who belong to Christ and who speak in his name. To accept the Lord's messenger is to accept Jesus himself. The great honor and the great responsibility a Christian has is to stand in the world for Jesus Christ. As his disciples we are called to speak for him and to act for him. Are you ready to stand for Jesus at the cross of opposition and hostility?
March 8
Tuesday of the fourth week in Lent
Betrayal and Faltering Loyalty to Jesus
Scripture: John 13:21-30
21 When Jesus had thus spoken, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, "Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me."
Jesus' disciples were put to the test as Jesus prepared to make the final and ultimate sacrifice of his own life for their sake and for all the world. What was different between Peter and Judas? Judas deliberately betrayed his Master while Peter, in a moment of weakness, denied him with an oath and a curse.
Judas' act was cold and calculated. Peter, however, never meant to do what he did. He acted impulsively, out of weakness and cowardice. Jesus knew both the strength of Peter's loyalty and the weakness of his resolution. He had a habit of speaking with his heart without thinking through the implications of what he was saying.
The treachery of Judas, however, is seen at its worst when Jesus makes his appeal by showing special affection to him at his last supper. John says that Satan entered into Judas when he rejected Jesus and left to pursue his evil course. Satan can twist love and turn it into hate. He can turn holiness into pride, discipline into cruelty, affection into complacency. We must be on our guard lest Satan turn us from the love of God and the path which God has chosen for us.
The Holy Spirit will give us grace and strength in our time of testing. If we submit to Jesus we will walk in the light of his truth and love. If we turn our backs on him we will stumble and fall in the ways of sin and darkness. Are you ready to follow Jesus in his way of the cross?
March 9
Wednesday of the fourth week in Lent
You Did Not Know the Time of Your Visitation
Scripture: Luke 19:41-44
41 And when he drew near and saw the city he wept over it, 42 saying, "Would that even today you knew the things that make for peace! But now they are hid from your eyes.
Do you know what makes for peace— the peace which produces lasting joy, security, and friendship with God? Jesus' earthly ministry centers and culminates in Jerusalem, the holy city, dwelling and throne of God (Jeremiah 3:17ff.); the place which God chose for his name to dwell there (1Kings 11:13); and the holy mountain upon which God has set his king (Psalm 2). Jerusalem derives its name from the word "salem" which mean "peace". The temple in Jerusalem was a constant reminder to the people of God's presence with them.
Why does Jesus weep and lament for this city? God had sent them the prophets and now his only begotten Son. They did not understand God's word of judgment because of pride and unbelief. Its inhabitants did not recognize God's visitation in his Son Jesus. Jesus' entrance was a gracious visitation. Jerusalem's lack of faith, however, leads to its destruction.
When God visits his people he brings justice and peace. God actively works among his people both to judge and change us and to save us from destruction if we heed his warning and respond to his grace with faith and contrition. Are God's judgments unjust or unloving? When God's judgments are revealed in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness (Isaiah 26:9). To pronounce judgment on sin is much less harsh than what will happen if those who sin are not warned to repent. The Lord in his mercy gives us grace and time to turn away from sin, but that time is right now. If we delay, even for a moment, we may discover that grace has passed us by and our time is up. Do you accept the grace to turn away from sin and to walk in God's way of peace and holiness?
March 10
Thursday of the fourth week in Lent
All the People Hung Upon His words
Scripture: Luke 19:45-48
45 And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, 46 saying to them, "It is written, `My house shall be a house of prayer'; but you have made it a den of robbers." 47 And he was teaching daily in the temple ... for all the people hung upon his words.
What do God's acts of judgments teach us? Do they inspire reverence for God, for his holiness and majesty? Few seem to pay much attention to God's judgments today. His acts of judgments, nonetheless, are intended to bring us into greater purity, holiness, and reverence for God's word of truth and love. Jesus went to Jerusalem, knowing he would meet certain death on the cross, but victory as well for our sake. His act of judgment in the temple is meant to be a prophetic sign and warning to the people that God takes our worship very seriously. In this incident we see Jesus' startling and swift action in cleansing the temple of those who were using it to exploit the worshipers of God. The money changers took advantage of the poor and forced them to pay many times more than was right— in the house of the Lord no less! Their robbery of the poor was not only dishonoring to God but unjust toward their neighbor. In justification for his audacious action Jesus quotes from the prophets Isaiah (56:7) and Jeremiah (7:11). His act of judgment aims to purify the worship of God's people and to discipline their erring ways. Despite the objections of the religious leaders, all the people present stood in awe of Jesus and they hung upon his words.
The Lord disciplines and chastises us in love to lead us from the error of our ways to his truth and justice. God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness (Hebrews 12:10). Do you worship God with reverence and gratitude for his mercy and do you submit to his word with faith and obedience?
March 11
Friday of the fourth week in Lent
Love One Another, Even as I Have Loved You
Scripture: John 13:31-38
34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."
How does God reveal his glory to us? In his Last Supper discourse Jesus speaks of his glory and the glory of his Father. What is this glory? It is the cross which Jesus speaks of here. The cross of Jesus shows us that the greatest glory in life is the glory of willingly sacrificing one's life for the sake of another. In the cross God reveals the breadth of his great love for sinners and the power of redemption which cancels the debt of sin and reverses the curse of our condemnation.
Jesus gave his Father supreme honor and glory through his obedience and willingness to sacrifice his life on the cross. The greatest trust one can give to their leader is the willingness to obey in the line of duty, even to the point of putting oneself in harm's way. In warfare the greatest honor belongs not to those who survive but to those who give the supreme sacrifice of their lives.
Jesus also speaks of the Father bringing glory to the Son through the great mystery of the Incarnation and Cross of Christ. God the Father gave us his only begotten Son for our sake, to redeem us from slavery to sin and death. He freely offered his Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins and the sins of the world.
There is no greater proof of God's love for us than the Cross of Jesus Christ. In the cross we see a new way of love – a love that is selfless, sacrificial, forgiving and compassionate beyond comprehension. Jesus commands us, his disciples, to love one another just as he has loved us. How can we love one another selflessly, sacrificially, and with compassion? Through the victory of the cross and resurrection, we have access to God's grace and mercy. God gives us new life through the gift of the Holy Spirit and he fills our hearts with faith, hope, and love. Paul the Apostle reminds us that "God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us" (Romans 5:5). As we turn to God with trust and obedience, he transforms our hearts and frees us to love others with compassion and kindness. Do you want to bring glory to God in the way you love others?
March 12
Saturday of the fourth week in Lent
If I Be Lifted Up
In Chapter 21 of Numbers those bitten by the fiery serpents has only to look upon the bronze serpent set atop the pole, and they would be cured. In John chapter 12, the manner and meaning of Jesus' death is given the same symbolism. Jesus says that when he is lifted up on high, on the pole of the cross, he will draw all people to him. Then all will know that he, the one who comes from the Father, the one who is the very revelation of the Father and of the Father's love, will bring about their healing. In other words, in the same way that the bronze serpent was set on the pole so that all who looked upon it would be cured, so all who look upon Jesus lifted up on the cross will see in him the source of their salvation, and will be healed from sin.
Bitten by the fiery serpents, those Israelites who had spoken against hte Lord and Moses had but to look upon the bronze image of the serpent and they were healed. Jesus on the cross also represents such treatment. Jesus took our sins upon himself, he became sin, so that by his death we might be healed and saved. This is why we look upon the cross.
"Eternal God, who are the light of the minds that know you, the joy of the hearts that love you, and the strength of the wills that serve you; grant us so to know you, that we may truly love you, and so to love you that we may fully serve you, whom to serve is perfect freedom, in Jesus our Lord." (Prayer of Saint Augustine)
-except taken from If I Be Lifted Up by George Lacey, pg 47
March 13
Sunday of the fifth week in Lent
"This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many"
Gospel reading: Matthew 26:26-30
26 Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is my body." 27 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, "Drink of it, all of you; 28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you I shall not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom."
Matthew ties the last supper meal with Jesus' death and the coming of God's kingdom. Jesus transforms the Passover of the old covenant into the meal of the "new covenant in my blood" (Luke 22:20). In the Old Covenant bread and wine were offered in sacrifice as a sign of grateful acknowledgment to their Creator. Melchizedek’s offering of bread and wine, who was both priest and king (Genesis 14:18), prefigured the offering made by Jesus, our high priest and king.
The unleavened bread at Passover and the miraculous manna in the desert are the pledge of God's faithfulness to his promises. The "cup of blessing" at the end of the Jewish Passover meal points to the messianic expectation of the rebuilding of Jerusalem. Jesus gave a new and definitive meaning to the blessing of the bread and the cup when he instituted the "Lord's Supper" or "Eucharist". He speaks of the presence of his body and blood in this new meal. When at the Last Supper Jesus described his blood “poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:28), he was explaining his coming crucifixion as a sacrifice for sins. His death on the cross fulfilled the sacrifice of the paschal lamb. That is why John the Baptist called him the “Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”
Jesus made himself an offering and sacrifice, a gift that was truly pleasing to the Father. He “offered himself without blemish to God” (Hebrews 9:14) and “gave himself as a sacrifice to God” (Ephesians 5:2). This meal was a memorial of his death and resurrection.
Jesus, you are the "Bread of Life" and the "Cup of Salvation". May I always follow in the narrow way of the cross toward the heavenly banquet where you will seat all the elect at the table of your kingdom.
March 14
Monday of the fifth week in Lent
"This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many"
Jesus chose the time of Passover to fulfill what he had announced at Capernaum– giving his disciples his body and his blood (John 6:51-58). Jesus’ passing over to his Father by his death and resurrection, the new Passover, is anticipated in the Last Supper and celebrated in the Lord's Supper, which fulfills the Jewish Passover and anticipates the final Passover of the church in the glory of God’s kingdom. This is the most significant meal of Jesus and the most important occasion of his breaking of bread. In this meal Jesus identifies the bread as his body and the cup as his blood. When the Lord Jesus commands his disciples to eat his flesh and drink his blood, he invites us to take his life into the very center of our being (John 6:53). That life which he offers is the very life of God himself.
Jesus' death on the cross, his gift of his body and blood in the Supper, and his promise to dine again with his disciples when the kingdom of God comes in all its fullness are inseparably linked. Jesus instructed his disciples to "do this in remembrance of me". These words establish every Lord's Supper as a "remembrance" of Jesus' atoning death, his resurrection, and his promise to return again. "For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes" (1 Cor. 11:26).
Our celebration of the Lord's Supper anticipates the final day when the Lord Jesus will feast anew with his disciples in the heavenly marriage feast of the Lamb and his Bride. Do you know the joy of the drinking Christ's cup and tasting the bread of his Table in sincerity?
March 15
Tuesday of the fifth week in Lent
"I am among you as one who serves"
Scripture: Luke 22:24-30
24 A dispute also arose among them, which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. 25 And he said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and those in authority over them are called benefactors. 26 But not so with you; rather let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves.
What kind of dispute were the disciples having during the Passover feast? They were likely arguing about who should sit in the place of honor at the table. Aren't we like that! We want the place of honor and recognition, especially when others will have to give notice and defer to us. Jesus did the unthinkable! He turned the world's value of greatness upside-down and he wedded authority with loving-sacrifice and with selfless-service. Authority without sacrificial love is brutish and self-serving. The way of greatness in God's kingdom is the way of servanthood and humility, putting others first in our care and concern.
Jesus willing laid down his life for our sake because he loved us first (John 3:16). He calls us to love as he did, by laying down our lives in sacrificial service for the good of others. An early church father summed up Jesus' teaching with the expression: to serve is to reign with Christ. We share in God's reign by laying down our lives in humble service of one another as Jesus did for our sake. Are you willing to put others first in your care and concern and to love them with the same merciful love that Jesus has for you?
March 16
Wednesday of the fifth week in Lent
"Father, remove this cup from me; yet not what I will, but what you will"
Scripture: Matthew 26:31-46
31 Then Jesus said to them, "You will all fall away because of me this night; for it is written, `I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.' ...Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsem'ane, ... And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zeb'edee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, "My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me." 39 And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt."
Are you prepared for trial and testing? Jesus was put to the test at the beginning of his public ministry when Satan offered him power, position, and all the kingdoms under his dominion (Luke 4:1-13). Jesus had to wrestle with temptation and now he warns Peter that he, too, will have to struggle for his very life and soul. Peter was a courageous man. He gave up his business and everything he had to follow Jesus. Now he promises Jesus that he will go with him through any trouble, be it imprisonment or violent death.
Satan knows both our weakness and our strength. And he often tests us in our strength to make us fall. Why is that the case? Where we are strongest we are often over-confident and unprepared with our guard down. Peter was passionately loyal to his Master, but he was unprepared for the test that was to come. Jesus not only warns Peter, but prays for him, and then calls him in turn to be a source of help and strength to his brothers when they face temptation.
We often cannot help someone in their weakness and failure until we have suffered similar trial and shame. Because Jesus "himself has suffered and been tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted" (Hebrews 2:18).
Fill me with your Holy Spirit that I may have the strength and courage to embrace your will in all things and to renounce whatever is contrary to it.
March 17
Thursday of the fifth week in Lent
"Father, remove this cup from me; yet not what I will, but what you will"
Jesus did his best to prepare his disciples for what was to come -- his betrayal, rejection by his own people, and violent death on the cross. This was to fulfill what the scriptures and the prophets had foretold, that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer before he entered into his glory. Jesus was tempted like us in everything but sin. Now he undergoes the worst temptation yet to face him, to accept or to reject the agony of death on a cross.
Jesus had the power and the means to escape defeat and death at the hands of his enemies, but he choose the way of the cross for our sake and for our salvation. How do you face opposition, failure, trial, and rejection? Do you look to God for strength to overcome adversity with faith, trial with hope, and rejection with love? Jesus went to his favorite place of prayer, the Garden of Gethsemane, to face such trial and testing. In prayer to his Father in heaven he found the strength he needed, both to embrace the Father's will and to accept the suffering that must come his way in order to carry out that will. What is the cross that you and I must face each and every day? When my will "crosses" with God's will, then his will must be done. Are you ready to take up your cross to follow the Lord Jesus?
Fill me with your Holy Spirit that I may have the strength and courage to embrace your will in all things and to renounce whatever is contrary to it.
March 18
Friday of the fifth week in Lent
"Father, remove this cup from me; yet not what I will, but what you will"
In the Lord's prayer Jesus instructs his disciples to pray that we might not be "led into temptation". Sin results from our consenting to temptation. God wants to set us free from evil. We are engaged in a battle between "flesh and spirit", and so we must ask God for the Spirit of discernment and strength that might not take the way that leads to sin. The Holy Spirit helps us to discern between trials that are necessary and good for our spiritual growth (Romans 5:3-5, 2 Tim. 3:12), and temptation which leads to sin and spiritual death (James 1:14-15).
Discernment unmasks the lie of temptation which makes sin look good and desirable, when in reality its fruit is death. That is why Satan is called the "father of lies". We must resist his lies and cling to the truth so that we may choose what is good rather than evil. If we decide in our heart that we want to choose what is good and to obey God, then God will surely give us the strength and help we need to overcome sin. Paul the Apostle tells us: "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your strength, but with the temptation will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it" (1 Cor. 10:13). We will only see victory in our struggle against temptation to sin if we take it to the Lord in prayer. It was by prayer that Jesus overcame his tempter in the struggle of his agony. We, too, must be vigilant in prayer and ask God for the strength and perseverance to be faithful to him to the end.
Fill me with your Holy Spirit that I may have the strength and courage to embrace your will in all things and to renounce whatever is contrary to it.
March 19
Saturday of the fifth week in Lent
"All the disciples forsook him and fled"
Gospel reading: Matthew 26:47-56
47 While he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a great crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders of the people. ... 55 At that hour Jesus said to the crowds, "Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? ... 56 But all this has taken place, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled." Then all the disciples forsook him and fled.
Do you know the pain of rejection? The greatest pain and injury comes not from our enemies but from those closest to us. Psalm 55 foretells the suffering of rejection which God's anointed King and Messiah would endure for our sake: "It is not an enemy who taunts me-- then I could bear it; it is not an adversary who deals insolently with me-- then I could hide from him But it is you, my equal, my companion, my familiar friend. We used to hold sweet converse together; within God's house we walked in fellowship" (Psalm 55:12-14).
In the ancient world a kiss was a sign of intimate friendship and trust. Judas' betrayal with a kiss shows the hypocrisy of his love and trust. This is literally a "kiss of death" not only because it leads to Jesus' death but is also a sign of the death of one who lost all hope and abandoned God. In betraying Jesus Judas rejected the one and only hope for freedom from sin and condemnation and the hope of reconciliation and restoration to friendship with God. Jesus met rejection not with bitterness or resentment, but with love and pity. God will never stop loving us no matter how far we stray from him or abandon hope. When you encounter injury and rejection from others, how do you respond? With merciful love and a forgiving heart or with bitterness and revenge?
Lord, only you can save us from the blindness of sin and despair. May your light dispel the darkness of our lives and give us hope and joy. Fill our hearts with mercy and compassion that we may bring hope to those who have no hope and show them the light of Christ.
March 20
PALM SUNDAY OF HOLY WEEK
Do not weep for me, but for yourselves and your children
Scripture: Luke 23:26-32
26 And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus. 27 And there followed him a great multitude of the people, and of women who bewailed and lamented him. 28 But Jesus turning to them said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.
Are you prepared to die well? None of us can avoid the inevitable-- our own death. We try to avoid it, to block it from our minds, but the the truth is we will all die sooner or later. Dying is not easy for anyone. It involves mental and physical suffering, loss, and separation. We can choose to live well, and we can choose to die well. Dying well is a life-long spiritual task. Fortunately there is something stronger than death and that is love (Song of Songs 6:8). "For God so loved the world that he gave us his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16). Jesus embraced the cross knowing it was the Father's will and the Father's way for him to die.
A criminal condemned to death by Roman law was forced to carry his own cross. Soldiers made him carry it to the place of execution usually by the longest route possible. This prolonged the public humiliation and agony of carrying a weight that bowed the head and broke the back into a posture of submission. Jesus fell under the weight of his cross and could go no further. The Roman soldiers compelled another man to carry it for him.
Simon had come a long distance from Cyrene (in North Africa, present-day Libya) to Jerusalem for the Passover feast. The last thing he wanted to do was to participate in the public execution of a criminal. But he had no choice since Roman authority could not be challenged without serious consequences. The Gospel of Mark records that Simon was the father of Alexander and Rufus (see Mark 15:21). Since Mark wrote his gospel for the Christian community at Rome, it is likely that the two sons of Rufus were well-known to the Church there as fellow Christians. Who knows, if Simon had not been compelled to carry Jesus' cross, he may never have been challenged with the message of the cross and the meaning of the Christian faith which his two sons later embraced. Perhaps Simon became a believer and passed on his faith to his family as well. Do you take up your cross willingly to follow Jesus in his way of love and sacrifice?
Several people followed Jesus as he carried his cross to Calvary. They wept for him because they knew he was innocent and was from God. Jesus addressed the women in the crowd as "daughters of Jerusalem". The phrase, "daughters of Zion" personified faithful Israel. Their mourning and lament expressed their deep sorrow over Jesus' fate. Jesus turned to them as he did to Peter (see Luke 22:61). His words were meant to bring them from remorse to full repentance and faith in the face of impending judgment. Jesus' warning focused on Jerusalem and its inhabitants. Jesus earlier had warned the inhabitants about the destruction of Jerusalem since they "did not know the appointed time of their visitation" (Luke 19:43-44). This visitation is now as Jesus goes to Calvary to die upon the cross. God "has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us" (Luke 1:68) through his only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus pronounced a blessing on the barren. This reversal of fortune follows the pattern of Jesus' beatitudes (Luke 6:20-22). Those who are poor, who weep for their sins, who suffer for doing right are blessed by God. They recognize that in their nothingness they possess everything which comes from God. Do your mourn for sin and separation from God and give thanks for the great victory which Christ won for us on the cross?
March 21
MONDAY OF HOLY WEEK
THE FIRST WORD of Jesus on the Cross
"Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do."
Gospel of Luke 23:34
Does he react angrily? No, he asks his Father to forgive them, because they are ignorant! At the height of his physical suffering, his Divine love prevails and He asks His Father to forgive his enemies.
Right up to his final hours on earth, Jesus preaches forgiveness. He teaches forgiveness in the Lord’s prayer: “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us [Matthew 6:12].” When asked by Peter, how many times should we forgive someone, Jesus answers “seventy times seven [Matthew 18:21-22].” At the Last Supper, Jesus explains his crucifixion to his Apostles when he tells them to drink of the cup: "Drink of it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins [Matthew 26:27-28].” He forgives the paralytic at Capernaum [Mark 2:5], and the adulteress caught in the act and about to be stoned [John 8:1-11]. And even following his Resurrection, his first act is to commission his disciples to forgive. “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if the retain the sins of any, they are retained [John 20:22-23].”
THE SECOND WORD of Jesus on the Cross
"Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise."
Gospel of Luke 23:43
Now it is not just the religious leaders or the soldiers that mock Jesus, but even one of the criminals, a “downward progression of mockery.” But the criminal on the right speaks up for Jesus, explaining the two criminals are receiving their just due, and then pointing to Jesus, says, “this man has done nothing wrong.” Then, turning to Jesus, he asks, “Jesus, remember me when you come in your kingly power [Luke 23:42].” What wonderful faith this repentant sinner had in Jesus - far more than the doubting Thomas, one of his own Apostles! Ignoring his own suffering, Jesus mercifully responds with His second word.
The second word again is about forgiveness, this time directed to a sinner. Just as the first word, this Biblical expression again is found only in the Gospel of Luke. Jesus shows his Divinity by opening heaven for a repentant sinner - such generosity to a man that only asked to be remembered!
March 22
TUESDAY OF HOLY WEEK
THE THIRD WORD
"Jesus said to his mother: "Woman, this is your son".
Then he said to the disciple: "This is your mother."
Gospel of John 19:26-27
Jesus and Mary are together again, at the beginning of his ministry in Cana and now at the end of his public ministry at the foot of the Cross. What sorrow must fill her heart, to see her Son mocked, tortured, and now just crucified. Once again, a sword pierces Mary’s soul, the sword predicted by Simeon at the Temple [Luke 2:35]. . There are four at the foot of the cross, Mary his Mother, John, the disciple whom he loved, Mary of Cleopas, his mother’s sister, and Mary Magdalene. His third word is addressed to Mary and John, the only eye-witness of the Gospel writers.
But again Jesus rises above the occasion, and his concerns are for the ones that love him. The good son that He is, Jesus is concerned about taking care of his mother.
It seems as if John had fulfilled to the letter the Lord's command: 'Behold thy mother,' (John 19:26-27) and literally 'from that very hour' took her to his own home. If right, then, in the absence of St. John, who led away the Virgin-Mother from that scene of horror, the other three women would withdraw to a distance, where we find them at the end, not 'by the Cross,' as in St. John 19:25, but 'beholding from afar,' and now joined by others also, who had loved and followed Christ.
Once more we reverently mark Jesus' divine calm of utter self-forgetfulness and His human thoughtfulness for others. As they stood under the Cross, He committed His mother to the disciple whom He loved, and established a new human relationship between him and her who was nearest to Himself.
Now at last all that concerned the earthward aspect of His mission, so far as it had to be done on the cross, was ended. He had prayed for those who had nailed Him to it, in ignorance of what they did; He had given the comfort of assurance to the penitent, who had owned His glory in His humiliation; and He had made the last provision of love in regard to those nearest to Him. The relations of His Humanity, that which touched His human nature in any direction, had been fully met. He had done with the human aspect of His work and with earth.
March 23
WEDNESDAY OF HOLY WEEK
THE FOURTH WORD
"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34
This is the only expression of Jesus in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark. Both Gospels relate that it was in the ninth hour, after 3 hours of darkness, that Jesus cried out this fourth word. The ninth hour was three o’clock in Palestine. Just after He speaks, Mark relates with a horrible sense of finality, “And Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed his last [Mark 15:37].”
One is struck by the anguished tone of this expression compared to the first three words of Jesus. This cry is from the painful heart of the human Jesus who must feel deserted by His Father and the Holy Spirit, not to mention his earthly companions the Apostles. As if to emphasize his loneliness, Mark even has his loved ones “looking from afar,” not close to him as in the Gospel of John. Jesus feels separated from his Father. He is now all alone, and he must face death by himself.
But is not this exactly what happens to all of us when we die? We too will be all alone at the time of death! Jesus completely lives the human experience as we do, and by doing so, frees us from the clutches of sin.
There can not be a more dreadful moment in the history of man as this moment. Jesus who came to save us is crucified, and He realizes the horror of what is happening and what He now is enduring. He is about to be engulfed in the raging sea of sin. Evil triumphs, as Jesus admits: “But this is your hour [Luke 22:53]” But it is only for a moment. The burden of all the sins of humanity for a moment overwhelm the humanity of our Jesus.
But does this not have to happen? Does this not have to occur if Jesus is to save us? It is in defeat of his humanity that the Divine plan of His Father, and as the Trinity, His plan will be completed! It is by His death that we are redeemed.
March 24
THURSDAY OF HOLY WEEK
THE FIFTH WORD
"I thirst"
Gospel of John 19:28
The fifth word of Jesus is His only human expression of His physical suffering. Jesus is now in shock. The wounds inflicted upon him in the scourging, the crowning with thorns, and the nailing upon the cross are now taking their toll, especially after losing blood on the three-hour walk through the city of Jerusalem to Golgotha on the Way of the Cross. Systematic studies of the Shroud of Turin, as reported by Gerald O’Collins in Interpreting Jesus, indicate the passion of Jesus was far worse than one could imagine. The Shroud has been exhaustively studied by every possible scientific maneuver, and the scientific burden of proof is now on those who do not accept the Shroud as the burial cloth of Jesus.
THE SIXTH WORD
When Jesus had received the wine, he said,
"It is finished";
and he bowed his head and handed over the spirit.
Gospel of John 19:30
It is now a fait accomplit. The sixth word is Jesus’ recognition that his suffering is over and his task is completed. Jesus was obedient to the Father and gave his love for mankind by redeeming us with His death on the Cross. What was the darkest day for mankind became the brightest day for mankind. When Jesus died, He “handed over” the Spirit.
Jesus remains in control to the end, and it is He who handed over his Spirit. “But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water,” as the imagery of water recalls the Holy Spirit as “living water.” This fulfills the prophecy in Zechariah 12:10: “They will look upon him whom they have pierced.” The piercing of Jesus’ side prefigures the sacraments of Eucharist (blood) and Baptism (water), and as well the beginning of the Church.
March 25
FRIDAY OF HOLY WEEK
THE SEVENTH WORD
Jesus cried out in a loud voice,
"Father, into your hands I commend my spirit":
Gospel of Luke 23:46
The seventh word of Jesus is from the Gospel of Luke, and is directed to the Father in heaven, just before He dies. Luke quotes Psalm 31:5 - “Into thy hand I commend my spirit; thou hast redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.” Luke repeatedly pleads Jesus’ innocence: with Pilate [Luke 23:4, 14-15, 22], through Dismas, the criminal [Luke 23:41], and immediately after His death with the centurion, “Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God and said, ‘Certainly this man was innocent [Luke 23:47].’”
The innocent Lamb had been slain for our sins.
Jesus fulfills His mission, and as He says so clearly in John’s Gospel, He can now return: “I came from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and going to the Father [John 16:28].” Jesus practiced what He preached: ‘Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends [John 15:13].”
March 26
SATURDAY OF HOLY WEEK
As the tomb was close at hand they laid Jesus there
Scripture: John 19:38-42
38 After this Joseph of Arimethea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him leave. So he came and took away his body. 39 Nicodemus also, who had at first come to him by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds' weight. 40 They took the body of Jesus, and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. 41 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb where no one had ever been laid. 42 So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, as the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.
Jesus not only died for our sins (1 Cor. 15:3); he also, by the grace of God, tasted death for every one (Heb. 2:9). It was a real death that put an end to his earthly human existence. Jesus died in mid afternoon and the Sabbath began at 6:00 pm. Since the Jewish law permitted no work on the Sabbath, the body had to be buried quickly. Someone brave enough would have to get permission from the Roman authorities to take the body and bury it. The bodies of executed criminals were usually left unburied as carrion for the vultures and dogs. Jesus was spared this indignity through the gracious intervention of Joseph of Arimethea.
Who was this admirer and secret disciple of Jesus? Luke tells us that Joseph was a member of the Sanhedrin, the supreme Jewish council that condemned Jesus. We are told that he did not agree with their verdict. He was either absent from their meeting or silent when they tried Jesus. What kind of man was Joseph? Luke tells us that he was "good and righteous" and "looking for the kingdom of God" (Luke 23:50-51). Although he did not stand up for Jesus at his trial, he nonetheless, sought to honor him in his death by giving him a proper burial. Nicodemus, another secret disciple of Jesus and a member of the Sanhedrin, also assisted in the burial of Jesus by providing the burial clothes and spices. This was to fulfill what the prophet Isaiah had foretold: "He was cut off out of the land of the living ..and they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth" (Isaiah 53:8-9).
In the Book of Revelations, the Lord Jesus speaks: "Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one: I died, and behold I am alive for evermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades" (Rev. 1:17-18). No tomb in the world could contain the Lord Jesus for long. His death on the cross purchased our redemption and his triumph over the grave on Easter morning defeated death. What preserved the Lord Jesus from corruption? He was kept from decay and he rose from the dead by divine power. "My flesh will dwell in hope. For you will not let your Holy One see corruption" (Psalm 16:9-10) . The mystery of Christ's lying in the tomb on the sabbath reveals the great sabbath rest of God after the fulfillment of our salvation which brings peace to the whole world (Col. 1:18-20). Is your hope in this life only, or is it well founded in the resurrection of Christ and his promise that those who believe in him will live forever?
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