“As to his death, he died to sin once and for all; as to his life, he lives for God. Consequently, you too must think of yourselves as being dead to sin and living for God in Christ Jesus.” (ROM 6: 10-11)
The mystery of Our Lord’s death has a happy end in His eternal life. “He died to sin once and for all; as to his life, he lives for God.” Because we were baptized in His death, so we can live forever: “Consequently, you too must think of yourself as being dead to sin and living for God in Christ Jesus.” Every day is a perfect opportunity to express our love for Our Lord and practice “living for God in Him.”
“But he was pierced for our offenses, crushed for our sins; upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole, by his stripes we were healed.” (IS 53: 5)
Just as we cannot cleanse our sins, only God can, we cannot approach Him without His help. We were broken and full of sins, so God “was pierced for our offenses, crushed for our sins; upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole, by his stripes we were healed.” We depend totally on Him, and He is happy to be our Father and Redeemer.
“Christ became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every other name.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“So, during supper, fully aware that the Father had put everything into his power and that he had come from God and was returning to God, he rose from supper and took off his outer garments. He took a towel and tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and dry them with the towel around his waist.” (JN 13: 2-5)
We can’t prepare ourselves properly for a meeting with Our Lord, especially with the Resurrected One. Only He can prepare us—“fully aware that the Father had put everything into his power and that he had come from God . . . he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and dry them with the towel around his waist.” He is our Redeemer, He is our Savior, He is Our God, and only God can reunite us with Himself.
“I give you a new commandment, says the Lord: love one another as I have loved you.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“The Lord GOD has given me a well-trained tongue, that I might know how to speak to the weary a word that will rouse them. Morning after morning he opens my ear that I may hear; and I have not rebelled, have not turned back.” (IS 50: 4-5)
There are difficult moments in our lives, and there are better moments. When we are in trouble, we need a good word from our friends; when we are in good moments, we can support others. We can pray and ask to receive a gift of a “well-trained tongue” to know how “to speak to the weary a word that will rouse them.”
“Hail to you, our King; you alone are compassionate with our errors.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“The LORD called me from birth, from my mother’s womb he gave me my name. He made of me a sharp-edged sword and concealed me in the shadow of his arm. He made me a polished arrow, in his quiver he hid me. You are my servant, he said to me, Israel, through whom I show my glory.” (IS 49: 1-3)
Our parents chose the name for us: after our grandparents, after their friends, after their favorite saints or after famous people. They spoke about it, they asked for some opinions; they checked how it would match with the family name, and finally we received our names and were baptized. Our name was known to God much earlier than our parents fought about it; He “called us from birth, from our mother’s womb he gave us our names.”
“Hail to you, our King, obedient to the Father; you were led to your crucifixion like a gentle lamb to the slaughter.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“I formed you, and set you as a covenant of the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.” (IS 42: 6-7)
Our Lord perfectly understands our lives, our conditions and our problems. He always wants to be “a light” for us. He “opens our eyes” when we are blind to truth or “live in darkness,” having no idea what to do or where to go; He frees us when we are confined in troubles. He protects us and leads us because only love directs us rightly.
“Hail to you, our King; you alone are compassionate with our faults.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“Morning after morning he opens my ear that I may hear; and I have not rebelled,
have not turned back. I gave my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who plucked my beard; my face I did not shield from buffets and spitting. The Lord GOD is my help, therefore I am not disgraced; I have set my face like flint, knowing that I shall not be put to shame.” (IS 50: 4-7)
This is an important part of our lives—to serve others, not because it is so joyful and exciting, not because it makes us so popular and famous, but because we were called. Our service is so often underestimated, giving in a hostile environment and serving with a lot of stress (fortunately there are different places and different experiences also). All of these come from the most important decision we made: to be pro life, to be pro love, to be pro dignity, to be pro family. This is what Our Lord inspired us to do. And He is with us: “the Lord God is our help.” We have our moments of glory and our moments of Golgotha; we have moments of success and moments of failures, like we have our moments to achieve and moments to avoid. The most important thing to remember is that we are never alone, always with God, who IS our Help.
“Christ became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross, because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name.”
“My dwelling shall be with them; I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Thus the nations shall know that it is I, the LORD, who make Israel holy, when my sanctuary shall be set up among them forever.” (EZ 37: 27-28)
Our Lord wants to stay with us; He wants share with us in the places where we are, our traditions and our neighborhood. He stays with us in our local churches and chapels, and He wants to be easily reached to meet with us, to comfort us and to look at us with love. Every adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is an amazing meeting with Him, Who loves us and wants to repeat to us this message all the time.
“Cast away from you all the crimes you have committed, says the LORD, and make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“But the LORD is with me, like a mighty champion: my persecutors will stumble, they will not triumph. In their failure they will be put to utter shame, to lasting, unforgettable confusion.” (JER 20: 11)
We should repeat this again and again: “the Lord is with me, like a mighty champion.” We could be surrounded by bad people, persecuted in what we do for others, not understood or not respected, but this is not about us; this is about Him Whom we serve. We are serving God, Who created this world, Who wants His children to be with Him in heaven, and Who gave us His Son to reconnect us with Him. He was rejected in spite of being the most amazing person in the world; we can’t be surprised when we experience something similar. But “my persecutor will stumble, they will not triumph.”
“Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life; you have the words of everlasting life.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“My covenant with you is this: you are to become the father of a host of nations. No longer shall you be called Abram; your name shall be Abraham, for I am making you the father of a host of nations.” (GN 17: 4-5)
God didn’t tell Abram: you will have many children; God said: “you are to become the father of a host of nations,” “I am making you the father.” We can’t have children; with God’s help, we can become parents. This is a totally different world. When we make a decision object oriented, we say—we have or we want to have: a new car, a new house, a new gadget. Person oriented decisions are about identity—to become a husband/wife, to become parents, to become a doctor or practitioner or coach. God is our Father and we are His children—by names not by numbers, individually, not as a crowd.
“If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” (Gospel Acclamation)
