Today is Easter! The tomb is empty! Jesus has risen! Without this message, the church would not, could not, should not, exist. If we truly took the resurrection seriously as the cornerstone of our lives together, how might we live?
On this day the disciples honored the Jewish Sabbath, keeping still. Nothing to do to fix the problem. Just be still. Wait. Be empty. On this holy day, let us seek to empty ourselves.
Today is Good Friday. As we go into the world, let us carry with us the words of Jesus upon the cross: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” How does holding these words with us effect the way we encounter people?
On this night, long ago, Peter insisted to Jesus that even if the other disciples would betray him, he would not. Jesus knew that this was not so. Peter, it seems, was relying on his personal power — his self-confidence. What is the difference between self-confidence and faith in God? In what ways do we need to let go of self-confidence, and find, instead, confidence in God?
The Gospel of John tells us that on his last night with his disciples, Jesus got down on his knees in the posture of a servant and washed his disciples dirty feet. This, he was saying, is what it means to be his disciple.
As we move through this day, are we willing to be used by Jesus as servants?
The disciple Peter was called by Jesus the ‘rock’ upon which he built his Church. He was also the disciple who denied Jesus three times in his hour of greatest need. He was saint, and he was sinner. He stands for all of us.
To what extent do we try to see people as strictly saint or sinner, rather than as a combination of both? Can we recognize that there is darkness and there is light in all of us? Can we recognize that there is both in every person with whom we interact?
This is Holy Week — the week we remember the story that is central to our faith. Before we get to the message of life victorious over death, the story leads us into the deepest darkness. Where in our lives have we known such darkness?
How alone Jesus must have felt in that final week of his life. His own disciples did not really understand why he has chosen this way. When have we felt loneliness, and what does it mean to have Jesus with us as one who understands our loneliness?
Today is Palm Sunday. As we go to worship, can we let minds be open to hear whatever God wish to speak to us? Can we be open to the surprising things that God may say to us — things we did not expect?
Contemplate these words by John Carmody, written when he was seriously ill:
“When you deal with people seriously ill, either yourself or others, try to honor the eloquence of God’s silence. Babble if you must, as I have babbled here, but accept every invitation to desist. If the illness is your own, go for a walk, sit in a chapel, or jut hold the loved ones you most cherish. If the illness is another’s, listen for the time to stay silent, as well as the time to speak. There is a time to speak, but also a time to hold silence — to take it to your bosom like a love. There is a time to assault God, accuse God, but also a time to wait and leave God free… As you move along through your own way of the cross, let your spirit flow out of the mystery of the stations of the cross. Reciprocally, let their mystery flow to your spirit. Well or ill, but especially ill, you are part of something much greater. You did not make yourself, and you cannot raise yourself. But what you cannot do, God can. All things are possible with God… So, let nothing disturb you. Let nothing surprise you. The splendor in your death, as in your life, has yet to be revealed. In the morning thank God for it. In your evening, say, “So be it.†revealed.
revealed.
To flow with, or against, the flow of life.