This blog is simply meant to bring God the glory; no more and no less.
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A
few months ago I was at a concert. There
was an intermission. I
was sitting on a bench having a snack. There
was a lady with a young toddler on the bench next to me.
The
little girl kept coming up to me. She
wanted to share her cracker and
just speak gibberish.
Then
she would go back to her mom
and
report all that had happened just two feet away. This
was repeated a number of times.
Only
later did I realize the lady was the lead singer’s wife
and
the little girl his daughter.
According
to the world,
she
is the daughter of the lead singer of a band. But
she’s too young to have any idea. She
operates on joy.
She
teetered as she walked,
went
on babbling, and
dropped her crackers everywhere. Having
no idea that thousands of people paid to come see her dad sing.
She
doesn’t need to please anyone
or
be anyone. She
doesn’t have to act a certain way or
say certain things. She
doesn’t have to become a lead singer or
be just like her dad.
She
isn’t tainted by the world telling her who she should or shouldn’t be yet.
And
there is beauty in that.
She
is not defined by who the world says she is.
She
is defined by her identity as a child of God. No
strings attached. No
worldly definitions. No
expectations.
She
is just free to be herself.
Herself
as a child of God. What
if we didn’t let the world define us? What
if we lived as children of God instead
of as CEOs and
singers and
doctors?
What
if our identity came from Christ?
Instead
of coming from who the world says we are?
Would
be able to walk around carefree?
Knowing
that we are His? And
that our worth comes from Him?
There’s
a little girl out there who wants you to know
that
there is freedom to be found in freeing ourselves from who
the world tells us we are supposed to be. There’s
a little girl out there who wants you to know that
your identity comes from the God who created you and who loves you. Let’s
go be that little girl today. Let’s
lose ourselves by finding ourselves as children of God.
I
think that one of our biggest fears is being unknown. Not
being known for anything. Not
being acknowledged. No
one at our funeral.
We
desire to be known for something...for anything!
We
want to be acknowledged. We
want an epic eulogy.
The Magnificat
has a reflection on St. Nicarete.
She
was a little-known saint who pledged her life to Christ by way of service to
the poor. When
asked if she would lead other women, she declined. She
remained with the poor until her death even though it meant a tough life for
her. The
prayer at the end of the reflection reads:
“Loving Father, through the intercession of Saint
Nicarete, teach me to love being unknown. May I serve behind the scenes with joy.”
I
don’t know that I have read a prayer so beautiful,
yet
so against our human nature. In
what world does the human not want to be known? Not
an earthly or human world, that’s for sure. A
world where we don’t crave being known by others would be a divine world.
If
we are unknown by the world,
that
does not diminish our worth. See,
the God who created us, He has
us engraved in the palm of His hand. He
knows the number of hairs on our heads. He
knows our fears, desires, weaknesses, prayers, cries, and joys. He
knows us on the deepest, most beautiful level imaginable.
I’m
not known to the world.
But
that has to be okay.
If
we are known by the world,
what
worth is that? What
merit is found there? For
these things of the world, they
pass away.
If
we are known by Christ,
there
all worth and merit is found. So
long as we are known by Him, it
matters not if the world knows us.
The
reality is people will pass us by, we
won’t have a million followers on Instagram, and
people might make us feel unknown or unwanted. But
among this reality is also this reality- you
are known, you
are wanted, you
are worth it, and
you are loved.
We
might not be known to the world,
but
know that we are known on the deepest, most intimate level by a
God who died to know you, who
prayers that you might know your worth.
Alleluia!
Happy Easter! What a joy to celebrate the risen Christ!As we prepare to search for Easter eggs and
spend time with family, let us take a moment to reflect on the joy of Easter
and the invitation that it extends.
The
joy of Easter is life; life in Christ Jesus. Three days prior, it seemed as
though death was the victor. But that, my friends, is far from the truth. This
truth this Easter, and always, is that Jesus Christ conquered death. He is the
victor. He destroyed death so that we might have life. Life with Christ is a
priceless gift that nothing in the world can compare to.
The
Gospel of John tells the story of the Resurrection of Jesus in this way: Mary
of Magdala arrives at the tomb of Jesus and finds the tomb empty. She weeps out
of sheer fear and confusion. She knows not what has happened to the body of her
Lord. John continues, “She turned around and saw Jesus there, but did not know
it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you
looking for?’” [John 20:14-15] We have the upper hand; we know the answers to
these questions. We know what happens. We know that Christ has risen from the
dead. Alleluia! But these questions, they still burn within our own hearts.
The
question, “Whom are you looking for?” touches us to the core. We are always
searching. Be it searching for Easter eggs, searching for joy, searching for
truth, searching for a place where we belong. We are searchers; just like Mary
of Magdala. Pope St. John Paul II gives us insight to our seeking, “It is Jesus
that you seek when you dream of happiness”. Mary of Magdala was looking for
someone. That someone was Jesus. We are searching just as earnestly. Might we
too be searching for Jesus? Maybe without even knowing it?
Whether
you found yourself here this Easter by choice or by chance, welcome! Your
search may have come to fruition. Maybe you have found whom you have been
looking for. It’s possible you have encountered the risen Christ on this
glorious Easter. Praise God! Please consider staying awhile. Hopefully, you
find your home sweet home within Christ Jesus. Please, come in. Welcome
home!
The day of Our Lord’s suffering, passion, and death.
There are not words enough to do justice to the pain and suffering and glory of this day.
Barabbas was chosen to be released over Christ.
This choice was so that the Lord’s will would be carried out.
And the passion of Christ begins.
Christ was chained to a post and scourged.
His body brutally beaten with cruel weapons.
Weapons that sliced His sacred skin.
Weapons that when thrown upon His body took a hold of His flesh
and ripped it off of His body.
And He went through this because
HE.
LOVES.
YOU.
A crown of thorns was placed upon His head.
Actually, people believe that it was more of a cap of thorns.
The 2 inch thorns were forced into the sacred head of Our Lord.
Blood ran down His face joining with the rest of the blood that covered His body.
And He tolerated this all because
HE.
LOVES.
YOU.
Jesus carried the cross to Golgotha.
The heavy physical burden.
The wood rubbing against Christ’s skin, irritating it even more.
The dirty wood shoving splinters through Christ’s bloody ripped skin.
He falls on the gravel three times.
The gravel pushing up through the gaping wounds all over His body.
The burden of the cross falling down with our blessed Lord.
He carried His cross all because
HE.
LOVES.
YOU.
When Jesus reached the place called Skull, He was rudely placed upon the cross.
Nails that are thought to have been 7-9 inches long were hammered to Jesus’ feet and His hands, just below the wrist.
A block of wood was fastened to the cross under Christ’s feet which left His knees slightly bent.
“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
The nails driven through His hand and wrist area did not break a bone but they are thought to have hit a major nerve that controlled movement and feeling of the shoulders.
Because of the strain on the nerve, Jesus lacked the ability to lift up His head to breathe.
To be able to breathe, Christ had to put force on His feet that were nailed onto the block of wood so that He could force the rest of His body up to breathe.
He went through this pain because
HE.
LOVES.
YOU.
The soldiers mocked Jesus and made fun of Him.
They told Him that He should save Himself.
And He could have.
He is God.
He can do anything.
But He chose to stay on the cross.
Obedience brought Him to the cross
It was love that kept Him there.
His love for YOU.
Love kept Him on the cross.
Staying on the cross showed extreme humility.
His love brought about humility.
He humbled Himself to death, even death on a cross because
HE.
LOVES.
YOU.
Jesus was crucified between two criminals.
One on His right.
One on His left.
One criminal joined in with the soldiers in mocking Jesus.
The other one repented of His sins and asked for Christ’s forgiveness.
Confession.
Right there.
On the Cross.
“Amen, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
He instituted the sacrament of confession and is gracious enough to forgive us of our sin because
HE.
LOVES.
YOU.
Mary standing at the foot of the cross.
Her pain inexpressible.
Her motherly desire to reach out and help her son was a desire like no other.
But She could do nothing.
It was in this moment that Her fiat was required to be a silent one.
Her yes had to be quiet.
She could only pray.
And then listen to Her son when He said,
“Woman, behold your son.”
He would not leave His mother alone.
He will not leave us alone simply because
HE.
LOVES.
YOU.
At about ,
The hour of mercy, in Jesus’ great pain and agony,
He cried out to His father,
“My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”
Jesus then proceeded knowing that His time was almost finished and said,
“I thirst.”
He was given some wine on a sprig of hyssop.
This completed the fourth cup of the Passover from the night before and Jesus said,
“It is finished.”
Thus, that line has many meanings.
The Passover was now finished.
Christ’s time on earth was almost finished.
The suffering on the cross was almost finished.
Jesus cried out in a loud voice,
“Father into Your hands I commend My spirit.”
Jesus bowed His head and died.
The earth quaked and people came to believe.
“Truly this was the Son of God!”
“This man was innocent beyond doubt.”
This man was innocent.
Yet He was obedient to the point of death on a cross so that we might live.
Truly He loved us.
Truly He loves us.
And truly He always will.
He gave His life for us.
The least we can do is live our lives for Him because
