Happy Holy Week
Hello to you all- Happy Holy Week
So, here we are, into the home stretch before the Triduum and the celebration of Easter. Is it just me or were there 650 days of Lent this year? maybe it's just me.....
I have been reading Love and Responsibility by Pope John Paul II all during Lent and it is ROCKING MY WORLD. whee! that book is absolutely amazing, i am in awe of it.
As i was reading yesterday, the Holy Father was writing that it's in the time of trial when our true love is revealed. He was saying that in the encounter of love, our loved one's weaknesses and sins show up but this is not a cause for us to run away, but to love all the more deeply.
This flies in the face of the societal idea of "love", which is heavy on the emotional/physical reaction to another person or their body but doesn't go the distance of the integration of love- which always goes to the heart of who a person is, not their compilation of attributes.
Perhaps we find ourselves in a situation where "we've lost that lovin' feeling". does this mean we no longer love? Or perhaps things happen in life and in our commitments that "we didn't sign up for." Should we bail out of the situation and look for "greener pastures"?
The world says "yes" but Jesus invites us to a deeper level of intimacy.
I once heard a very holy man (who has been married quite a while) say "If our relationships are stale and boring, it's a sure sign that there are parts of our hearts that are locked up."
Temptations, trials and struggles are weight room of life.
When we hit a wall or a struggle in our lives, we cannot run away from it but ask Jesus to help us go deeper.
We see this especially in Holy Week. It wasn't enough that Jesus talked about giving his life or speaking of the work and love of his Father, but that Jesus prayed to the Father for the strength to follow His will to the end- to the complete gift of self in love.
Knowing what Jesus knew, I doubt He "felt like" going through Holy Week. I am guessing that knowing that pretty much all this disciples, his best friends, would bail on Him when He needed them the most, He probably didn't have much of a "loving feeling" about His passion.
As Fr. Emmerich Vogt so often says, "emotions are given to us to move us, but not to make our decisions for us."
So, as you look in your life and see trials and struggles, know that you are not alone. Know that you can ask Jesus to help you become honest, open and willing.
With His help, you can bring love to where there is none. You can bring real love to a relationship or situation that appears dead or is difficult.
There is always hope.
That's what Holy Week brings to us-- that our sins and failings and sufferings are not the end of the story. But that through love, Jesus takes those things upon Himself so we can experience Resurrection. We have nothing to fear.
We are loved by love :)
So, here we are, into the home stretch before the Triduum and the celebration of Easter. Is it just me or were there 650 days of Lent this year? maybe it's just me.....
As i was reading yesterday, the Holy Father was writing that it's in the time of trial when our true love is revealed. He was saying that in the encounter of love, our loved one's weaknesses and sins show up but this is not a cause for us to run away, but to love all the more deeply.
This flies in the face of the societal idea of "love", which is heavy on the emotional/physical reaction to another person or their body but doesn't go the distance of the integration of love- which always goes to the heart of who a person is, not their compilation of attributes.
Perhaps we find ourselves in a situation where "we've lost that lovin' feeling". does this mean we no longer love? Or perhaps things happen in life and in our commitments that "we didn't sign up for." Should we bail out of the situation and look for "greener pastures"?
The world says "yes" but Jesus invites us to a deeper level of intimacy.
I once heard a very holy man (who has been married quite a while) say "If our relationships are stale and boring, it's a sure sign that there are parts of our hearts that are locked up."
When we hit a wall or a struggle in our lives, we cannot run away from it but ask Jesus to help us go deeper.
We see this especially in Holy Week. It wasn't enough that Jesus talked about giving his life or speaking of the work and love of his Father, but that Jesus prayed to the Father for the strength to follow His will to the end- to the complete gift of self in love.
Knowing what Jesus knew, I doubt He "felt like" going through Holy Week. I am guessing that knowing that pretty much all this disciples, his best friends, would bail on Him when He needed them the most, He probably didn't have much of a "loving feeling" about His passion.
As Fr. Emmerich Vogt so often says, "emotions are given to us to move us, but not to make our decisions for us."
So, as you look in your life and see trials and struggles, know that you are not alone. Know that you can ask Jesus to help you become honest, open and willing.With His help, you can bring love to where there is none. You can bring real love to a relationship or situation that appears dead or is difficult.
There is always hope.
That's what Holy Week brings to us-- that our sins and failings and sufferings are not the end of the story. But that through love, Jesus takes those things upon Himself so we can experience Resurrection. We have nothing to fear.
We are loved by love :)
Comments
Once again, God tells me what I need to hear when I need to hear it. I can't run away when it gets difficult! I love the way you put it. Have you heard "Something Beautiful" by Need to Breathe, if so..YOU ROCK and I am sure you love the song! If not: your mission is to YOUTUBE it. Thanks for your words of encouragement. Happy Holy Week! As Father Patrick told us yesterday, I hope you allow something to be changed for the better this week, and that change has God at #1 (thats paraphasing, of course). But Miss you!! Come visit anytime Sista!