A Gift Well Hidden

      I wanted to ignore or deny my negative feelings. After all, we are celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus. He IS risen! Alleluia!

     I should feel joyous. I should feel happy and blessed, but instead, I feel stuck in Lent.

     What is wrong with me? Why am I feeling this way? 

The Father's Response

     “Prayers are God-filled words in which our love and God’s love are joined. That love embraces the people for whom we are praying, and love changes people and situations. This doesn’t mean that we will always get what we want, but Jesus does promise we will get what we need.”                                                                                                                                Rev. Jude Winkler, O.F.M.

     “God loves me so much that He provides my every need. God’s providence disposes and directs everything for His honor and glory and for the good of my soul."                                                                                                                                                            Mother Angelica


     In our head, we know that both Father Jude’s and Mother Angelica’s statements speak truth. But in our heart, when life does not turn out the way we were hoping and praying it would, we are filled with doubt.

     Watching those we love suffer is difficult. We wish that we could take their place and relieve them of their pain. God will sometimes allow us to share in their suffering, but our loved ones still remain on the cross. It is difficult to see both God’s love and ours embracing them while their suffering continues. During times of trial, it is downright hard to believe we’ve received what we need!

Live Radically

     While they were still speaking about this, He stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” But they were startled and terrified and thought they were seeing a ghost. Then He said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do questions arise in your hearts? Look at My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Touch Me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have.” And as He said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. While they were still incredulous for joy and were amazed, He asked them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave Him a piece of baked fish; He took it and ate it in front of them. He said to them, “These are My words that I spoke to you whole I was still with you, that everything written about Me in the law of Moses and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled.” Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. And He said to them, “Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in His name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are all witnesses of these things.” Luke 24 vs 34 – 48


     For those of us, who first learned about the resurrection of Christ at our mother’s knee, it is a very familiar story. It could therefore, be heard so often we do not experience the impact that this amazing and wonderful act of God should have upon us.

Being a Beloved Disciple

     Being someone’s “favorite” is special. It’s like being picked out of a crowd and acknowledged as having a special effect on another. It is a feeling of being loved, cherished and cared about, far above the attention we usually receive. It fills your heart with joy and puts a smile on your face!

     You may have experienced this special treatment from a parent, a sibling, a friend, a teacher, or spouse. Being loved this way makes you walk a little taller as you accept the gift of being “the one.” When you embrace this role, you are willing to do whatever is necessary to return the gift to the other – which allows them to know they are cherished as well!

     The apostle John was that special person to Our Lord. Along with Peter and James, he was in the “inner circle,” but with John it went ever further. He was the Beloved Disciple. He was the one to rest His head on the heart of Jesus at the Last Supper and the only apostle to stand by Jesus as He suffered crucifixion. He did not run and hide when all the others did. He loved Jesus with a pure and true love. A love which only thinks of the other, wants to bring comfort, never counting the cost.

     Are you a Beloved disciple to Jesus? Do you stand by Jesus when the crosses of life come your way, or do you flee out of fear or disdain like the other apostles? Do you desert Him or join Mary, John and the holy women in trying to bring comfort to our Lord?

     Love proves itself by deeds, and John did just that. Jesus tells us in Holy Scripture, “If any one wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me” ( Lk 9 vs 23). We must learn to accept the trials and tribulations that come into our lives, recognizing them as a share in the cross of Christ. Learning to unite our sufferings with Jesus’ will open a wealth of graces to help us to endure. Realizing this is priceless. What a gift it is, to be invited to share in the work of salvation: if we could only remember that when suffering comes our way!

From the Cross

     Anyone who sits by the bedside with a loved one, who is dying, would not find it difficult to recall the words that were spoken to them. Those words would be etched deeply within their memory and cherished as precious jewels. Each word, each sentence would be recorded and recalled as a gift.

     So too are the words of Christ that were uttered from the cross. They are recorded for us in Holy Scripture and are venerated by Christians throughout the world. They were spoken with great effort as Jesus suffocated on the cross. They should hold a great significance for us because they reveal the love, sacrifice and wisdom of God.

     Let us thoughtfully ponder them on this blessed day, Good Friday.

One of His Favorites

     “Yes, my heart’s dear one, Jesus is here with His Cross. Since you are one of His favorites, He wants to make you into His likeness; why be afraid that you will not have the strength to carry this cross without a struggle? On the way to Calvary, Jesus did indeed fall three times and you, poor child, would like to be different from your Spouse? Would you rather not fall a hundred times if necessary to prove your love to Him by getting back up with even more strength than before your fall!                                                                                                                                                 St. Therese of Lisieux



     Being one of our dear sweet Jesus’ favorites, He wants to make you into His very likeness: carrying your cross is part of the package. The cross is the instrument that was used by our Lord to bring about our salvation. When we accept our cross, it will transform our suffering and be a means of elevating and sanctifying our souls.

Faithful Souls

     “The life of faith is nothing less than the continued pursuit of God through all that disguises, destroys and, so to say, annihilates Him. It is in very truth a reproduction of the life of Mary who, from the Stable to the Cross, remained unalterably united to that God whom all the world misunderstood, abandoned, and persecuted. In like manner faithful souls endure a constant succession of trials. God hides beneath veils of darkness and illusive appearance which make His will difficult to recognize; but in spite of every obstacle these souls follow Him and love Him even to the death of the Cross.”                                                                                                                                                                        Fr. Jean-Pierre de Caussade


     Pursuing God, when hardships and tragedies strike our lives, would be impossible without the tremendous amount of grace that God lavishes upon us. While we might feel anger or blame God for our circumstance, He is readily available to help. How tragic it is, that we often abandon Him in our greatest time of need. We see Him as the cause, and not the Curator of the situation. He is the God of love, yet stays silent, even if we shake our fist at Him.

Blessed Teresa and the Sacrament of Love

     “We have ups and downs and sickness and sufferings. This is part of the cross. Anyone who imitates Him to the full must share in His passion also. That is why we need prayer . . . that is why we need the Bread of Life . . . that is why we have Adoration.”                                                                                                                                                                                            Blessed Mother Teresa


     After her death, Mother Teresa’s spiritual director revealed to the world her intense “dark night.” It became clearer just how deeply Mother Teresa shared in the passion of Christ. Many were shocked and startled by that fact, because her actions gave no indication of her acute suffering. Despite her feelings of abandonment and deep loneliness, she continued to carry out the mission that Our Lord had placed on her heart so many years ago.

The treasure of the Cross

    “To live in love is not to set up our tent on Tabor.  It is to climb Calvary with Jesus and see the Cross as a treasure.”
                                                                                            St. Therese of Lisieux

                                                   
                                                           
      When I read about the saints, I am reminded how very much I need to grow and change! We’d all like to “set our tents on Mt. Tabor”…didn't St. Peter want to do the same?  Gee, maybe there is hope for us after all! It is clear that St. Peter grew in his love for God, gave his life to serve Christ and eventually, became a martyr. Apparently at some point, Peter, like Therese, came to see the Cross as a treasure.