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In the early morning light, distracted by emails that have arrived overnight, I look out my window and into the city.

As traffic grows in the street surrounding the park and fountain, a priest appears on the sidewalk below, his long cassock blowing in the early breeze. He has been out walking, welcoming the day, and speaking with the Savior. I observe this in the way he moves — still in the world, but lifted above the world’s cares.

As the priest disappears down the walk, I am reminded that you, Jesus, are among us, every moment of every day.

My eyes open wide, as I take in the beauty and mystery of the morning light.

Help us to walk with You, Jesus.

Holy Spirit, remind us to pause throughout the day, to listen for Jesus’ gentle words on our hearts.

More than anything, help us to become channels of Your Love today, Jesus.

“Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise.” James 5: 13

When I am struggling to let go and to trust in Jesus, I think of the scene in Matthew’s Gospel that unfolds after Jesus has fed 5,000 people.

It’s evening now, near the Sea of Galilee, and Jesus asks the disciples to get into their boat and to travel before Him, to the other side of the water. Jesus goes off to pray by Himself. Returning to the shore later on, Jesus sees that the boat is now near the middle of the sea, so He begins walking on the water toward the boat.

When the disciples see Jesus, they are terrified. They think they are seeing a ghost! Jesus calls to them, “Take heart, it is I; have no fear.” Matthew 15: 27.

Peter, still skeptical, says to Jesus, “Lord, if it is you, bid me come to you on the water.” (Matthew 15: 28)

Here’s what happens:

“He [Jesus] said, ‘Come.’ So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus; but when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink, he cried out, ‘Lord, save me.’ Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to Peter, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’” And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.” Matthew 14: 29-32

How many times have I done this? Called out to Jesus for help, only to turn away from Jesus later that day, worried that somehow His advice isn’t good enough?

The setting for this scene is intentionally powerful. In the middle of the Sea of Galilee, at night, the disciples are physically vulnerable. Remember at first, they think a ghost is coming toward them. They cannot jump from the boat and run to shore – humans cannot walk on water! Swimming to shore will be slow and difficult as well.

As the disciples realize it is Jesus, fully human, walking on the water, they witness the Power of His Divinity. The Divine Jesus who invites Peter to walk on the water reveals to all of us His desire to strengthen our human capabilities with His Divine Power. When Peter responds to Jesus with a heart full of joy and trust, he too walks on water! Amazing! With Jesus, there is nothing that we cannot do.

But then the wind picks up and Peter becomes afraid. His mind fills with doubt, and Peter begins to sink into the waves. Peter calls for Jesus, and the Savior is right there, extending His hand to pull Peter out of the water to safety.  

The point of the story is undeniable — Jesus wants to share His Loving Power and Mercy with all of us.

Jesus calls constantly for us, drawing us to the boundaries that we fear, and asking us to walk with Him to the places where we worry that we are not enough.

Why?

Because it is at the edge of our capacities that we encounter Jesus.

What would happen today if I trusted completely in Jesus?

“Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders, let me walk upon the waters, wherever you would call me. Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander, and my faith will be made stronger, in the presence of my Savior.” Hillsong UNITED, “Oceans (Where Feet May Fail),” 2013.

You come to me in waves, Jesus.

My awareness of You, and all that You are, comes in waves and washes over me. The beauty of all that You are fills me with wonder, as I watch for you by the water, on the beach.

I look for You in big signs — in the great, strong winds, but You are not there. I look for You in the earthquakes and fires, but You are not there. Instead, I find You in the silence, Your voice so still and small that it draws me to my knees. (1 Kings 19: 11-13)

In the silence, I recall You telling Your disciples that You and the Father are One. (John 10: 30)

Your beloved disciple and friend, John, who knew You so well, tells us that God is Love, and whoever lives in Love lives in God, and God lives in Him. (1 John 4: 16) John also tells us that a Love which is perfect casts out fear. This fear of our sinfulness and imperfection is not from God, for perfect Love washes away all fear. (1 John 4: 18) I bow my head, humbled by God’s Love.

In the silence, I recall Your teachings, Jesus – all of them centered on loving one another, as the Father loves us. When we love one another, this is how others know that we love You, Jesus. (John 13: 34-35) And you tell us over and again to forgive one another, because God forgives us. (Mark 11: 25)

In the silence, I recall your death and resurrection, Your ultimate act of Love and Mercy. (John Chapters 19 and 20). I see and understand that You came so that we may have life and have it abundantly. (John 10: 10) And because You and the Father are One, I see that from the beginning, this was God’s plan, to love us richly and with mercy, for God knows that all of His creation is made in goodness. (Genesis 1: 31)

In the silence, I am reminded of Your final prayers before Your death, for Your disciples and for all of us: 

“Now this is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.” (John 17: 3)

In the silence, I realize that eternal life begins here on earth, when we turn to Christ, and ask Jesus to make our lives and our plans His Own. Knowing that I am made in God’s image (Genesis 1: 27), I understand that I was made to share in eternal life with the Father and the Son, even if the world tries to tell me otherwise. I lift my head, filled with the knowledge of this precious gift.

You come to me in waves, Jesus.

In the silence, I call to You. The prophet Isaiah assures me that You are among us, even though there is no beauty or majesty to attract us to You. (Isaiah 53: 2-3) You show up in unexpected ways, Jesus, because You want to know that we sincerely long for You. You desire that we come to You because of how You Love, not because of how You look or because of the Power that You possess.

You come to me in waves, Jesus, when I am ready to move forward with You. In the silence, I know that my life is infinitely better because of You.

Thank you for loving me, Jesus.

Thank you for loving us, Jesus.

Dearest Holy Spirit, please draw all of us nearer to Jesus each day, so that God may draw nearer to us. (James 4:8)

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Jesus died around three in the afternoon on Friday and was buried shortly thereafter. His Resurrection occurred by Dawn on Sunday. These verses from the Gospel of John recount the scene at the tomb early Sunday:

“Now on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.

“So she ran, and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple [John], the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.’

“Peter then came out with the other disciple, and they went toward the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first; and stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in.

“Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; he saw the linen cloths lying there, and the napkin, which had been on His head, not lying with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself.

“Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise from the dead. Then the disciples went back to their homes.

“But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb, and she saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head, and one at the feet. They said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’

“She said to them, ‘Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.’

“Saying this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?’

“Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to him, ‘Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.’

“Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’ She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, ‘Rab-boni!’ (which means  teacher).” John 20: 1-16

He is Risen!

After Jesus prays in the Garden of Gethsemane, a great crowd with swords and clubs, led by Judas, one of the Twelve disciples who will betray Him, enters the Garden and seizes Him. (Matthew 26: 36-50)

Peter, another of the Twelve disciples, draws his sword and cuts off the ear of the high priest’s slave. Jesus orders Peter to put his sword away, saying:

“’Put your sword back, for all who take the sword will perish. Do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?’” (Matthew 26: 51-54)

A Roman legion at full strength had approximately 6,000 soldiers. So, that’s a minimum of 72,000 angels that Jesus can call upon for assistance.

And yet Jesus does not call for the angels. Instead, He quietly and willingly turns Himself over to the crowd, knowing that His decision to accept God’s plan will end in His Crucifixion. (Matthew 26: 36-56)

From the Cross, in absolute agony, Jesus says these words aloud:

“”Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.’” (Luke 23: 34)

Jesus asks God to not only forgive those who have crucified Him – Jesus begs the Father’s forgiveness for all of us – those who have gone before us, those here now, and those yet to enter the world. He prays and intercedes for all of humanity, from the Cross.

Before He dies, Jesus looks down from the Cross at his beloved Mother, Mary and disciple, John, and says these words:

“’Woman, behold, your son!’ Then He said to the disciple, ‘Behold your Mother!’” (John 19: 26)

Before He dies, Jesus reminds us of His Commandment to love one another – and positions His Mother as a powerful intercessor for all of us.

For centuries scholars, theologians, historians, believers, and non-believers have asked what would compel someone — and particularly the Son of God — to willingly accept death by Crucifixion?

In considering Jesus’ final actions and words from the Cross, we find our answer:

LOVE.

Dearest Jesus, Song that the Angels sing, how deeply we adore Thee and love Thee.

Fair and wise judge Jesus, forgive us our sins as we forgive the sins of others.

Sacred Heart of Jesus, source of all goodness, our souls long for You.

Gentle and faithful Shepherd, lead us to see the face of God.

As I move through Good Friday, the most solemn day of Holy Week, a question stirs uncomfortably in my mind – Why does it have to be this way? Why does God choose to demonstrate the depths of His Love and Mercy for us through the Crucified Jesus?

The prophets foretell that the anointed Servant of the Lord will one day offer Himself as a sacrifice to suffer viciously for the sins of all God’s people. The prophet Isaiah describes that the Lord’s Suffering Servant will be “wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities; upon Him lies the chastisement that will make us whole, and with His stripes, we are healed.” (Isaiah 54: 3).

Another prophecy in Deuteronomy describes that “a hanged man is accursed by God.” (Deuteronomy 21: 22-23)  In these verses, any man who is “hanged on a tree” is described as being “cursed.” The atoning and sacrificial nature of Jesus’ death is clearly evident in these verses since He takes on the punishment and curse that belongs to sinful men and women.

But the question still remains – Why is it that the horror of the Cross must stand at the center of the history of our Salvation? What is God trying to show us through the Cross?

St. Pope John Paul II’s encyclical on the Mercy of God (Dives In Misericordia, or “Rich in Mercy) offers us answers:

“The events of Good Friday and, even before that, in prayer in Gethsemane, introduce a fundamental change into the whole course of the revelation of love and mercy in the messianic mission of Christ. The one who ‘went about doing good and healing’(Acts 10: 38) and ‘curing every sickness and disease’ (Matthew 9: 35) now Himself seems to merit the greatest mercy and to appeal for mercy, when He is arrested, abused, condemned, scourged, crowned with thorns, when He is nailed to the cross and dies amidst agonizing torments. (Mark 15: 37, John 19: 30). 

“It is then that He particularly deserves mercy from the people to whom He has done good, and He does not receive it. …

… “In the passion and death of Christ — in the fact that the Father did not spare His own Son, but ‘for our sake made him [bear the burden of] sin’ (2 Corinthians 5: 21) — absolute justice is expressed, for Christ undergoes the passion and cross because of the sins of humanity. This constitutes even a ‘superabundance’ of justice, for the sins of man are ‘compensated for’ by the sacrifice of the Man — God.

“Nevertheless, this justice, which is properly justice ‘to God’s measure,’ springs completely from love: from the love of the Father and of the Son, and completely bears fruit in love … The divine dimension of redemption is put into effect not only by bringing justice to bear upon sin, but also by restoring to love that creative power in man … [for] he once more has access to the fullness of life and holiness that come from God …

… “The cross on Calvary, the cross upon which Christ conducts His final dialogue with the Father, emerges from the very heart of the love that man, created in the image and likeness of God, has been given as a gift, according to God’s eternal plan … It is love which not only creates the good but also grants participation in the very life of God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. For he who loves desires to give himself.

“The cross of Christ on Calvary … includes the call to man to share in the divine life by giving himself, and with himself the whole visible world, to God, and like an adopted son to become a sharer in the truth and love which is in God and proceeds from God. It is precisely beside the path of man’s eternal election to the dignity of being an adopted child of God that there stands in history the cross of Christ, the only begotten Son, who, as ‘light from light, true God from true God,’ (The Nicene Creed) came to give the final witness to the wonderful covenant of God with humanity, of God with man — every human being.

“This covenant, as old as man … is equally the new and definitive covenant … open to each and every individual. … And yet this is not yet the word of the God of the covenant: that will be pronounced at the dawn when first the women and then the Apostles come to the tomb of the crucified Christ, see the tomb empty and for the first time hear the message: “He is risen.” They will repeat this message to the others and will be witnesses to the risen Christ. …

… “Believing in the crucified Son means “seeing the Father,” (John 14: 9) means believing that love is present in the world and that this love is more powerful than any kind of evil in which individuals, humanity, or the world are involved.

“Believing in this love means believing in mercy. For mercy is an indispensable dimension of love; it is as it were love’s second name.”¹

I love this encyclical so much. St. Pope John Paul II’s words are even more meaningful when we reflect on his life. Although he was the child of a loving family, his life was not easy. Born in Poland, in 1920, he had lost his mother and older brother by the time he was twelve years old. An older sister had died in infancy. He was raised by his father, a deeply religious man, in the midst of political turmoil and social chaos. St. Pope John Paul II would lose his father to a heart attack in 1941. Through all of this, St. Pope John Paul II continued to search for and find the indescribable Love and Mercy of God.

St. Pope John Paul II’s life and words give us great hope.

On this Good Friday, as we look to the Cross, let us recognize the power of Divine Love and Mercy to lift all of us high above the horror of sin and the chaos of evil.

¹Click here to read in full St. Pope John Paul II’s Dives In Misericordia, published November 30, 1980. The excerpts above are taken from Chapters 7 and 8.

In my early search to know Jesus, my sister gave me a book titled, Jesus: An Interview Across Time¹. It’s written by Andrew G. Hodges, M.D., a practicing psychiatrist who seeks to answer questions that are centuries-old. Here is an excerpt from the foreward:

“Dr. Hodges believes the humanity of Jesus has been neglected. He has creatively fashioned a format in which Jesus answers intimate questions about the details of His life, including some that are not recorded in the Gospels.” Pg. 13

The book is a fascinating read of Dr. Hodges’ own estimation of Jesus, drawing from the Gospels and Hodge’s own life experiences and beliefs. Dr. Hodges’ book is filled with questions that perplex believers and non-believers alike:

“Then how did you find out that you were the chosen one, the Messiah? Did your mother tell you?” pg. 28

“You fulfilled over three hundred specific prophecies about the Messiah, yet the scholars, the ones who were supposed to teach the people what to look for in the Messiah, missed your appearance entirely. Why? Pg. 56

“Tell me about the message behind the miracles.” (pg. 180) “There have been scattered miracles performed in recent years and Christians continue to report unbelievable responses to prayer; but why don’t you do these spectacular miracles anymore?” (pg. 144)

“You didn’t care for the Pharisees very much, did you?” (pg. 191) “As I read the gospels, I never cease to be amazed at the number of times you provoked the Pharisees.” (pg. 196) “You never let up on the Pharisees.” (pg. 199)

“Can you really love a spirit, ‘someone’ you can’t see, like God?” (pg. 239)

“What do you most vividly recall about those four days between Palm Sunday and the Last Supper?” (pg. 284)

The book is provocative in the sense that each page challenges the reader to reflect more deeply on what he or she believes about Jesus. So many years later, as I seek to draw nearer to Jesus, I still find myself turning from the book to cited Bible verses, sifting what I think Jesus is trying to tell me through His life and words.

Here’s a particularly moving excerpt from Hodges’ book about prayer:

“Tell me about prayer.

[Jesus’ response] – “People think that to really pray they have to be alone for long periods of time. They don’t realize that God is their friend, who is always with them, and He is someone they can tell things to at any time, just as to a husband or a wife or a dear friend.

“Another major reason people don’t pray enough is that they’re afraid of the power they’ve been given. Imagine this: you can move the hand of God. Listen to what He says, ‘Call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’ (Jeremiah 33: 3)

“He’s waiting to answer you. That’s why I told My disciples so many times to ask. Six times in my last message before my crucifixion, I told them to ask. Power makes people uncomfortable. They back off from the influence they have, and then their God becomes too small. I hope my people never forget that they’re made in the image of God.” (pp. 230-231)

Let your eyes and heart wander back over what Dr. Hodges is trying to share in the preceding excerpt. The “power” Hodges writes of is Love – human love and Divine Love.

Love remains the most humbling, inspiring, and freeing action any of us can choose to take. Through His Life, Death and Resurrection, Jesus shows us the undeniable power of Love to change lives. Jesus does not teach that we need to wait for heaven to know God and the full depths of His Love. Through Jesus’ remarkable humanity, we understand that we can claim the power of God’s love right now, in the present day.

Love has the power to transform our earthy lives because it naturally compels us to be more merciful toward one another. It is God’s Mercy – made known through Jesus – that frees us to be who we are meant to be – men and women wonderfully made in the very image of God. (Genesis 1: 27)

Jesus’ disciples witnessed firsthand the unparalleled power of Love and Mercy, Divine and human — and they spent the rest of their days sharing Jesus’ remarkable story:

“This was their heritage. Love was to be our power that would conquer the world, not might or material wealth or political strength or fear. A new day was dawning for all people, and my disciples were the first to know. Those who believed in Me and My Father were to be My brothers and sisters, and there would be a oneness that the world had never known.” (pg. 307-308)

This Holy Week, seek to know Jesus more deeply. Spend time in quiet prayer with Him and ask Jesus what little things you can do today, to be better — for yourself and for others. Jesus loves us and wants us to invoke the power of His Love and Mercy right now, within this earthly paradise.

“The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1: 14

¹ Andrew G. Hodges, M.D. Jesus: An Interview Across Time (MI: Kregel Publications, 1986, 2003).

We are deep within our Lenten journeys now. Yesterday (March 24), Catholics around the world celebrated Palm Sunday, the final Sunday of Lent and the start of Holy Week. Palm Sunday commemorates the triumphant arrival of Jesus in Jerusalem, and His Passion and Crucifixion a few days later.

In one week, the Church will celebrate the Risen Lord, on the first Easter.

My heart, this morning, is focused on the mercy of Jesus, revealed in particular by St. Pope John Paul II. In 1980, he published an encyclical dedicated to revealing God’s Mercy. Titled Dives in Misericordia¹ (or, “Rich in Mercy”), St. Pope John Paul II’s message focuses entirely on showing us that the very heart of the mission of Jesus Christ is to reveal the merciful love of the Father.

In this memorable encyclical, St. Pope John Paul II writes that mercy “is love’s second name.” He goes on to write, “Mercy is the greatest of the attributes and perfections of God, and the Bible, Tradition and the whole faith life of the People of God provide particular proofs of this.”

Early in the Old Testament, in the Book of Exodus, as God’s Commandments are made known to us, God reveals more about the depth of His Mercy:

“I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to THOUSANDS of those who love Me and keep My Commandments.” Exodus 20: 5-6

Do not be thrown off by God’s use of the word “jealous.” God is not irrational or insecure! But He is jealous for, or deeply desirous of, our love and devotion because He understands that only by entering into His Love can we find the hope and peace we yearn for in life. Only with His Love can we find the purpose and meaning that we desire, enabling us to live good and happy lives.

Only with His Mercy can we understand that God gives us each new day to start again. If we are truly sorry for our sins, and try to be better than we were the day before, God and His angels swoop in to help us.

Do we understand the depth of God’s Mercy? Yesterday at Mass, our priest said this to us:

“If you were the only person left on earth, when Jesus came down from Heaven, He would have willingly died for you alone, on the Cross. Jesus came to earth because He loves us and wants to redeem our souls — your soul and my soul.”

Jesus Himself directly tells us that He came to earth to reveal the merciful love of the Father:

“‘As the Father has loved Me, so I have loved you; abide (or remain) in My Love.'” John 15: 9

How do we remain in Jesus’ love? All we need is a sincere desire to know Him, to follow His teachings, and to love Him. He loves us so much. As Jesus is about to leave the world, He says this to His disciples:

“‘I will not leave you desolate (or alone); I will come to you.'” John 14: 18

Jesus is beside you now. If you ask Him to, Jesus will reveal that of all the many gifts He has to share with us, His Mercy is by far his greatest attribute and perfection. St. Pope John Paul II describes this best, within his encyclical:

“In this way, in Christ and through Christ, God also becomes especially visible in His Mercy; that is to say, there is emphasized that attribute of the divinity which the Old Testament, using various concepts and terms, already defined as ‘mercy.’ Christ confers on the whole of the Old Testament tradition about God’s mercy a definitive meaning. Not only does He speak of it and explain it by the use of comparisons and parables, but above all He [Jesus] Himself makes it incarnate and personifies it. He [Jesus] Himself, in a certain sense, is mercy. To the person who sees it in Him – and finds it in Him – God becomes ‘visible’ in a particular way as the Father who is rich in mercy.”

Jesus loves us so much. Truly, Mercy is Jesus’ — and Love’s — second name.

¹St. Pope John Paul II, Dives In Misericordia, published November 30, 1980.

“Love cannot remain by itself — it has no meaning. Love has to be put into action and that action is service.”

Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Happy Ash Wednesday! ♥ Happy Valentine’s Day! ♥

It seems perfect that Ash Wednesday – a day that marks the start of Lent and our 40-day journey of spiritual preparation and self-examination leading up to the Easter celebration – should fall this year on Valentine’s Day –  a day associated with several early Christian martyrs named Valentine and recognized as a time for celebrating love and friendship.

Lent is certainly a time for abstinence, self-reflection, and penance. But Lent is also a time to listen more closely for Jesus and to trust in His loving call to follow Him. ♥

Luke’s Gospel recounts the story of Jesus calling Simon Peter as His disciple:

“One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding around Him and listening to the Word of God, He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then He sat down and taught the people from the boat.

“When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, ‘Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.’

“Simon answered, ‘Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.’

“When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

“When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, ‘Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!’ For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.

“Then Jesus said to Simon, ‘Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men.’ So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed Him.” Luke 5: 1-11

I can totally relate to Peter’s concern that his sins are far too great for Jesus. I can also totally relate to Jesus telling Peter not to be afraid and to believe in how much He loves him.

The love Jesus has for all of us is on full display within Luke’s story. Make no doubt about it – Jesus is telling us to stop sinning. But Jesus is also asking us to not be afraid to start loving Him – and each other! He is asking each one of us to follow Him, to cast our nets deeply into life’s ocean, and to draw more souls to Him.

This Lent, may we all embrace more fully Christ’s call to leave behind our sinful ways, and to love more deeply.

And this Valentine’s Day, may we all be assured of how very much Jesus loves us.

Jesus loves you.

He loves you deeply and without end.

God’s love never fails. ♥