Jesus, betrayed by Judas

We begin our meditation today with the betrayal of Judas, one of the twelve chosen by Jesus to be an Apostle. Judas comes with soldiers to take Jesus captive and Judas goes to kiss Jesus so the soldiers will know whom to seize. What must the Heart of Jesus feel when one He loves has chosen to betray him for thirty pieces of silver! And his other chosen friends are also to flee and leave Him alone. How often do I turn from the love Jesus is showing me and walk away, preoccupied with my own concerns?

We had an excellent retreat day with the Associates last Saturday given by Father David Richo. I will share a prayer from it tomorrow as I thought it quite powerful. It has been a busy week with the retreat for the faculty and staff, the third graders for reading, my student, the Bible group, and trying to get in some exercise by walking outside.

The Agony in the Garden

One year when I was in Chile I spent the entire Lent praying with Jesus in the agony of the garden. I feel that this is where Jesus showed how human he was as he struggled to accept what he was to go through for us. In spite of the struggle, he kept praying, "Not my will but thine be done." 
We have so much to learn from Holy Thursday when Jesus washed the feet of his friends, then gave himself to them in this wondrous Sacrament of the Eucharist. Then he went to pray and asked his three closest disciples to watch and pray with him. Peter, James and John were not able to do this and Jesus was alone with the struggle to accept all of the suffering and even death on the cross. Once he has accepted all, he is at peace and will go forth to meet Judas who comes with the soldiers to betray him with a kiss. Imagine how the Heart of Jesus feels. Yet he surrenders himself to the soldiers and his disciples all leave him and flee. Let us not leave Jesus alone this Lent!

Fourth Sunday of Lent

The entrance antiphon for this Sunday is: Rejoice, Jerusalem, and all who love her. Be joyful, all who were in mourning: exult and be satisfied at her consoling breast.

The collect asks "that with prompt devotion and eager faith the Christian people may hasten toward the solemn celebration to come."

We rejoice but we also hasten on as we begin the fourth week of Lent. We are preparing for the solemn celebration to come and we are following Jesus on his way to Jerusalem where he will lay down his life for us. Let us remember the resolutions we have made to give these forty days of Lent to the Lord in a special way. 

Litany of the Sacred Heart

The response is: Immerse us in your Mercy...

Heart of Jesus...
providing in lavish proportions...
revealing new truths and forms of beauty...
orientated to those most in need...
rebuffed for your sheer goodness...
center of a Church without borders...
shepherding all nations...
diffusing the fragrance of divine indwelling...
delighting in innocence and modesty...
guiding us to the sabbath of eternity...
beating with 'Yes' to the Father...
restoring people to their intrinsic dignity...
yearning for a Church which is poor and for the poor...
fulfilling God's covenant with his people...
banishing judgmentalism in all forms...
befriending society's cast offs...
lavishing unquenchable love on good and bad alike...
merciful beyond human imagining...
existing in space and time and for eternity...

Let us pray: Christ Jesus whose heart encompasses all humankind, let our eyes see with your eyes, let our hands do as You would do, so your reign comes on earth as it is in Heaven. Amen.

His Embrace

"His father saw him...ran to him...clasped him in his arms and kissed him tenderly" Luke  13:20

How often was there the deep joy of being welcomed home? An embrace from your mother? 

Heart of Jesus existing in space and time and for eternity...

Pope Francis: "The community of Peter and Paul teaches us that the Church at prayer is a Church on her feet, strong, moving forward! Indeed a Christian who prays is a Christian who is protected, guarded and sustained, and above all who is never alone. Prayer is the encounter with God, with God who never lets us down, with God who is faithful to his word, with God who does not abandon his children." 29 June 2015

His Mercy

                                                                                                                                                                                       

"I want mercy, not sacrifice."  Matt 9:13

How often was there the deep joy of being welcomed home? An embrace from your mother? concern for your well-being?

     

How tough was it when folk did not grasp that ritual words and actions were invalid unless they represented tenderness and love?

Heart of Jesus merciful beyond human imagining...

Pope Francis: "Christ's resurrection is not an event of the past; it contains a vital power which has permeated this world... it is true that in the midst of darkness something new always springs to life and sooner or later produces fruit...however dark things are, goodness alwas re-emerges and spreads. Each day in our world beauty is born anew... values always tend to reappear under new guises."  EG276                                                                                                                                                     

His Generosity

"What do you want me to do for you?" Mark 10:51

Did you feel impelled to give of yourself to all who came for healing not matter how tired you were? Was the cost high?

Heart of Jesus lavishing unquenchable love on the good and bad alike...

Pope Francis: "...what the Holy Spirit mobilises is not an unruly activism, but above all an attentiveness which considers the other " in a certain sense as one with ourselves." This loving attentiveness is the beginning of a true concern for their person which inspires me effectively to seek their good... True love is always contemplative, and permits us to serve the other not out of necessity or vanity, but rather because she is beautiful above and beyond mere appearances." EG 199

I love the question Jesus keeps asking us: "What do you want me to do for you?" And then the quote from Pope Francis is worth pondering today!

Know His Heart: His Gentleness

"Woman, you are free of your infirmity" Luke 13:12

Did your loving Heart sense the pains of age and disability? When the woman straightened up what was the eye-to-eye communication? Did you ever meet her again?

Heart of Jesus befriending society's cast-offs...

Pope Francis: "Human beings are themselves considered consumer goods to be used and then discarded. We have created a "disposable" culture which is now spreading. It is no longer simply about exploitation and oppression, but something new,...those excluded are no longer society's underside or fringes or its disenfranchised- they are no longer even a part of it. The excluded are not the 'exploited' but the outcast, the 'leftovers'". EG 53

Third Sunday of Lent

I read somewhere that when Jesus was cleansing the temple, overturning the money-changers' tables, and driving out those who sold the animals to be sacrificed, he was upset because people were not paying attention to the Presence of God. That makes sense to me as the people who sold the animals and the money-changers were really there to help the Jews to fulfill the law, but the reason the Jews were coming to the temple was God! They had lost sight of that. 
Now, how many times have we gone into the Presence of God and been concerned about our own problems and failed to realize that God was waiting to have us come to Him? I think we are just to be with Him and listen to Him and let Him love us! Try this at Church today.

His Meekness

"Neither do I condemn you: go in peace and sin no more." Jn 8

How repulsed were you when the pharisees smugly pushed the woman forward? Did the frightened woman's eyes speak for many others? 

Heart of Jesus banishing judgmentalism in all forms...

Pope Francis: "Who am I to judge them if they are seeking the Lord in good faith?" (Press conference on plane 2013)

His Culture

"as was the custom...." Luke 2:42

As a teenager did the multiple rules rile you? Was it cool to talk to Joseph about traditions? 

Heart of Jesus fulfilling God's covenant with his people...

Pope Francis: "We cannot demand that people of every continent in expressing their Christian faith, imitate modes of expression which European nations developed at a particular moment of their history, because the faith cannot be constricted to the limits of understanding and expression of any one culture. It is an indisputable fact that no single culture can exhaust the mystery of redemption in Christ." EG 118

We are celebrating a 100th birthday today with many guests and there will be still another celebration tomorrow in San Francisco. 

His Inclusiveness

"It happened that a number of tax collectors and sinners came to sit at the table with Jesus and his disciples." Matt 9:10

Was it hard to bear with the critics fault finding about your table friendships? Did their envy of your popularity dampen your spirit? Did class distinctions disturb you?

Heart of Jesus yearning for a Church which is poor and for the poor...

Pope Francis: "Let us ask the Lord to help us understand the law of love. How good it is to have this law! How much good it does us to love one another, in spite of everything. Yes, in spite of everything!....We all have our likes and dislikes...to pray for a person with whom I am irritated is a beautiful step forward in love...Let us not allow ourselves to be robbed ot the ideal of fraternal love!  (when still Archbishop)