Reflection: From the conclusion of the Good Friday service until the Holy Communion at 5:00 on Saturday we observe Holy Saturday. In our spiritual tradition, we believe that on Holy Saturday Jesus “descended to the dead” (Apostle’s Creed) to proclaim the good news of salvation (1 Peter 3:19). No-one was or is or ever will be out of the reach of the saving power of Jesus. Jesus was, is and always will be the Saviour of the world, whose healing forgiving, reconciling love is accessible to all, across all time and all space. There is an icon that depicts Christ breaking down the doors of hell, grasping the wrists of Adam and Eve and lifting them victoriously toward heaven. Adam and Eve do nothing to help. Today we are reminded of a very powerful reality. We cannot heal the brokenness or imperfect state of being human. We cannot restore our wounded nature. We need to accept ourselves as we really are. We need to accept a God who has, in Jesus, revealed himself to be the God who can do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. Adam and Eve’s salvation, like ours, like all humanity’s– is a gift from God in the person of Jesus. All we need do is accept the gift and let it affect our lives. Such acceptance is what we, as Christians, are about between Good Friday and Easter.

Prayer: Father, through the resurrection of your Son Jesus, you are doing for me what I cannot do for myself. Help me to accept my limitations and imperfections, so that through such acceptance I can experience the victory of the Risen Jesus in my life. I ask this in Jesus’ name.

The Resurrection of Jesus

Reflection: The Passion account in John is a narrative of how the Word of God made flesh—Jesus—became immersed in all of human life. To be with Jesus we need to be willing to live life as fully as we can. We need to reach out in trust to others. We need to acknowledge our doubts and fears. We need to accept our hurts and pains. We need to acknowledge our sin and accept God’s forgiveness. We need to accept the good and the bad that come with living life and know ourselves as people who need Jesus.

Prayer: Father, through the passion and death of your Son Jesus you revealed your willingness to be with me in the most critical aspects of human life. Help me to fully accept my humanity so as to be with Jesus in all that is human. I ask this in Jesus’ name.

Reflection: “If Jesus knew that Judas would betray him, why didn’t he have Judas removed? Why didn’t he turn his back on Judas?”

Jesus, in not turning Judas away from himself, reveals a God who not only desires to be with us when we do the “right” or “holy” thing, but also a God who wants to be with us in all the aspects of our lives.

In Jesus we do not find a God who desires that we reach some state of perfection before he will be with us; rather we find a God who is actually willing to work with us as we journey to the completion of who we are as human beings.

In Jesus we find a God who is not only the goal of our journey through this life, but also a God who desires to be with us as we make that journey. Our journey may at times be challenging. We may stumble and fall. We may even take a wring turn or two along the way. Today’s reading, however, reveals a God who will not give up on us. Today we are reminded of how determined our God is to be with us and how much he wants us to be with him.

Prayer: Father, through your Son Jesus you are with me in all things. Help me to know that you are with me in my failures and mistakes as well as in my accomplishments and successes. I ask this in Jesus’ name.

Reflection: We may desire to complete an important project either for ourselves or for others. We may desire to reach some goal with all our heart. All too often we can fail in our attempts. Such failure can lead to feelings of disappointment and may, at times, cause feelings of guilt.

Today we are reminded of our need to consult and include Jesus in the pursuit of our goals. We will need his strength if we are to complete the good we seek to do. We will need to be nourished by him if we are to succeed in our goals.

There may indeed have been a very good reason why the first disciples were called to spend time with Jesus before they ventured out on any mission. There may be a very good reason why Jesus cautioned Peter about trying to follow him into the passion before Jesus himself had risen from the dead. There may be a very good reason why we need to be very careful about setting goals for ourselves before we have spend sufficient time in prayer, reflection and worship in the presence of Jesus. It may be that we, like the first disciples, need to spend time with Jesus before we begin any important task.

Prayer: Father, through your Son Jesus you have revealed yourself to be the One who can bring me to completion. Help me to spend time with your Son before I begin important projects in my life. I ask this in Jesus’ name.

Monday in Holy Week : March 29, 2010
Reading : John 12:1-11

Reflection: We seek the presence of Jesus. In our seeking we engage in activities such as personal prayer, scripture reading, acts of service, gathering with others in worship, sharing in the blessed bread and wine of the Eucharist and others. We are often able to experience the presence of Jesus in such activities, but there are times when we do not. Jesus is present but we do not experience his presence. Such moments of “absence” do not necessarily mean that we are doing anything wrong.

Today’s reading reminds us that the presence of Jesus is sometimes hidden from us. Although it is important to maintain our faith activities and especially important that we continue in personal prayer and communal worship, there is no guarantee that the “hidden presence” of Jesus will be made known through what we do. Jesus is not a genie in a bottle accessed through an incantation.

What is important is that we enter into our faith activities no matter how absent or dry they may seem to be at the time. Part of our faith is a willingness to allow Jesus to make his presence know to us in ways of his choosing. We do not have control over such revelation. It is, however, important to our faith that we continue to go to where he may be found.

Prayer: Father, through your Son Jesus, you reveal your presence with me. Help me to persevere in my attempts to experience his presence so that I may be open to finding him when his presence is revealed to me. I ask this in Jesus’ name.

Reflection: As children most of us had a place we called “home”, a place where we could go and feel part of a family. As adults we create new homes—places of love and caring.

Both readings today speak about making a home. In Ezekiel, God speaks about making a home among the Jewish people: “My dwelling shall be with them; I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” (37:27)

The message of Jesus is also evident: he will bring home all the dispersed children of God. Jesus’ resurrection has a universal effect, unite all people in a renewed creation. As Jesus says: “When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself” (John 12:32)

We believe we are part of a holy catholic church—“catholic” because the church embraces all people—because in the church, all followers of Jesus—regardless of race, gender, status, age, ability etc. find a common home, a place of kinship and communion. The church as “home” is a small foretaste of what will happen at the end of time when the whole of humanity will be reunited in Christ (see Revelation 7).
Since we share the same church “home” and in our entry through baptism into the Christians family we acknowledge  “One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism—One God and Father of All.” (BAS page 151) we are called to fight against violence, injustice, inequality and every ideology that seeks to deny that all people are created in the image of God. (BAS page 159) We are called to “seek and serve the Christ in all persons” (BAS page 159)

In Lent we are invited to re-dedicate ourselves to “loving our neighbour as ourselves” and respecting “the dignity of every human being” as God gathers his children into his home.

Reflection: What does it mean to be free? Some might think that being free means they have no responsibilities. They can come and go as they choose, do what they want when they want.

In our baptism we promise to “proclaim by word and example the good news of God in Christ.”  (BAS page 159) We accept responsibility for preaching the gospel in word and deed. In being faithful to this mission we become free.

Jeremiah was a prophet who found his freedom in proclaiming God’s word to the people of Israel. In so doing he became free from the jeers, threats, mocking and violence that surrounded his ministry. He was free to proclaim that the Lord rescues the life of the poor from the power of the wicked.

Jesus speaks of his commission to be God’s Son. Jesus speaks the Word of God and does the work of God. In so doing he is free from being trapped by the expectations and fears of the people around him.
So many times in our lives, God calls us to be free to proclaim the good news of Jesus. God calls us to rise above the murmurings and mocking that are around us in our culture and to speak God’s word of love and to work for God’s will for justice in a world trapped in greed and accumulation. We might read 1 Corinthians 9:16 and reflect on Paul’s insights.

In Lent we are invited to experience the freedom that comes with faithfulness to the mission and ministry entrusted to us.

Reflection: What “truth” is Jesus referring to? In order to make the proclamation “Jesus Christ is Lord” we need to accept the truth about ourselves. It is only when we are honestly willing to come to terms with who we are that we can accept our need for Jesus to be Lord in our lives. It is only when we are willing to explore the truth about ourselves that we are able to accept the possibilities for differences to take place in us because of the Jesus we profess to be Lord.

The truth about ourselves, and the truth Jesus and his gospel can make in our lives, is the truth that can set us free. For once we accept how we are imperfect, we can become free from perfectionism. Once we accept the fragility of life, we can become free from all impulses to take ourselves and others for granted. And once we are able to move beyond sinfulness as a negative word and come to accept how it does describe our imperfect self, we can accept the gift of God’s forgiving love. God’s love is given to us in our sinfulness. That is the true gift of God’s love for us.

In Lent we are invited to examine our lives honestly, to  reflect on the greatness of God’s love for us and ask God to help us accept His gift of love in a way that touches our hearts and shapes our lives.

Reflection: Jesus was not afraid to speak the truth, or to challenge many of the accepted beliefs and practices of his day. He exhibited a sense of self-awareness many of us have to struggle with in order to achieve.

Today’s reading reminds us that Jesus’ image of himself was rooted in his relationship to the God he called Father. Jesus was secure in who he was, and was able to say and do what he did, because he was connected to the will of his Father.

Our faith does not grow in a vacuum. It needs to be nourished. The fruits of faith…a sense of who we are as Christians…a sense of meaning and purpose in our lives as Christians…do not just happen. They are the result of a willingness on our part to take the time and to do what is necessary so that we, like Jesus, can experience a sense of being connected to the will of God the Father.

Through our willingness to gather for worship each week…through our willingness to try to observe a Holy Lent through reflection, penitence, prayer, fasting, almsgiving and reading and meditating on the word of God in Holy Scripture, we are showing a desire to take responsibility for our faith. Through our willingness to participate in Holy Week, we show our willingness to be nourished in the faith. Through entering into the worship of our church we show a willingness to be present to, and to know a little better, the God we are privileged to call “Our Father”

Scripture Verse: “Nor do I condemn you. You may go.” John 8:11

Reflection: The perfection that Jesus demands of his followers (Matthew 5:48) is being merciful as “your Father is merciful” Luke 6:36. Mercy is the essential condition for entering the kingdom of God. (Matthew 5:7). A merciful attitude and stance in life makes us like the Good Samaritan, like the father in the story of the Prodigal Son, like Jesus who raises the widow’s son and who forgives the woman caught in adultery. Mercy is acting with tenderness towards the hurt in others. When Jesus spoke of mercy, he echoed the Jewish tradition that when you extend mercy you become connected to the other.

Right after the story of the woman caught in adultery comes Jesus’ proclamation—“I am the light of the world.” (John 8:12). Mercy is the handle that opens the door to the light. Saint Patrick (whose day we acknowledged last week) is a person who understood this, He returned to the country where he was originally enslaved and extended to the people first mercy and then the gospel.

In Lent we are invited to look inside ourselves and see the parts of us that might be hard-hearted or holding a grudge. We are invited to ask God help us turn away from these attitudes and instead turn towards allowing mercy to affect our actions.