Holy Thursday
I will follow you wherever you may go...
These words that Peter said to the Lord evoke those promises we made at the beginning of this Lenten season; and at the end of this season, we must question ourselves: Have I been faithful as I promised you, Lord, almost 40 days ago? Or have I betrayed You?
The other day, while watching the Passion of Christ, I could not help but to think that every sin I had committed during this time were like lashes with which I have torn Your flesh... And yet, You look at me with eyes full of love (like as if You’re asking the Father to forgive me because I didn’t know what I was doing), telling me: Be strong! Fear not! And, like the good thief who stole Heaven, You’re willing to forgive me whenever I come to You in the sacrament of reconciliation. You’re willing to receive me with a smile and with arms wide open and encourage me to trust in You. You’re willing to encourage me to love because it is worth it to love and to serve without measures. Just like you did.
But then again, I have to ask myself: How much have I loved? How much, Lord, have I loved YOU?
It is a tough question to answer… But then we come to today’s Gospel: Where we see that the Lord’s gesture of washing his disciple’s feet manifests an explicit desire to leave us an example of Love and service. With it, He teaches us that "Man cannot fully find himself except in the sincere gift of self to others.” He shows us that the true path of fulfillment and happiness is to love and to serve like Him.
The gesture of the washing of the feet and the free donation of his own Body and Blood in the hands of the apostles synthesize all his life. It is that same love of Christ that all Christians are called to live. That was the mandate of the Lord at the Last Supper: "I give you a new commandment: To love one another as I have loved you" The person who lives like this, who follows the Master's example, loving others, transforms his/her life into love, you could say he/she begins to "lovify" in such a way that you no longer keep anything for yourself and your life gives many fruits.
That is the fruit that the Lord expects of our lives: Love. Not a selfish or individualist love that seeks a self-enclosed happiness, with a sort of spiritual anesthesia that impedes a humane and loving approach for our brothers/sisters and which drowns our hearts in a sea filled by our own preoccupations (like accumulating wealth, power or pleasures) and problems to the point where we become blind to those whore are sad and deaf to the cries of those that suffer.
The Eucharist that the Lord instituted on Holy Thursday is the greatest antidote to the selfishness and the stubbornness that impede us to love; it is the sacrament of love, it is a school of love, that it unites us in one love: The love of God for us. A true and authentic love that is donation, that is generous.
"The disciples of the Lord, united to Christ through the Eucharist, live in a communion that links them to each other as members of one body. This means that the other belongs to me, his/her life, his/her salvation, have to do with my own life and my salvation."
You may think that this may sound like all nice theory. But IT’S NOT! It is something very tangible. It is something very real that I’m sure each one of us have experience it one way or another.
In these final hours in which we move ever more to the climax where life conquered death, like John the apostle, let us accompany our Holy Mother. Who better than her to teach us how to love how her son loves? Let us walk in company of Mary this intense time for the whole church and rise with the Lord Jesus to a life full of love.
These words that Peter said to the Lord evoke those promises we made at the beginning of this Lenten season; and at the end of this season, we must question ourselves: Have I been faithful as I promised you, Lord, almost 40 days ago? Or have I betrayed You?
The other day, while watching the Passion of Christ, I could not help but to think that every sin I had committed during this time were like lashes with which I have torn Your flesh... And yet, You look at me with eyes full of love (like as if You’re asking the Father to forgive me because I didn’t know what I was doing), telling me: Be strong! Fear not! And, like the good thief who stole Heaven, You’re willing to forgive me whenever I come to You in the sacrament of reconciliation. You’re willing to receive me with a smile and with arms wide open and encourage me to trust in You. You’re willing to encourage me to love because it is worth it to love and to serve without measures. Just like you did.
But then again, I have to ask myself: How much have I loved? How much, Lord, have I loved YOU?
It is a tough question to answer… But then we come to today’s Gospel: Where we see that the Lord’s gesture of washing his disciple’s feet manifests an explicit desire to leave us an example of Love and service. With it, He teaches us that "Man cannot fully find himself except in the sincere gift of self to others.” He shows us that the true path of fulfillment and happiness is to love and to serve like Him.
The gesture of the washing of the feet and the free donation of his own Body and Blood in the hands of the apostles synthesize all his life. It is that same love of Christ that all Christians are called to live. That was the mandate of the Lord at the Last Supper: "I give you a new commandment: To love one another as I have loved you" The person who lives like this, who follows the Master's example, loving others, transforms his/her life into love, you could say he/she begins to "lovify" in such a way that you no longer keep anything for yourself and your life gives many fruits.
That is the fruit that the Lord expects of our lives: Love. Not a selfish or individualist love that seeks a self-enclosed happiness, with a sort of spiritual anesthesia that impedes a humane and loving approach for our brothers/sisters and which drowns our hearts in a sea filled by our own preoccupations (like accumulating wealth, power or pleasures) and problems to the point where we become blind to those whore are sad and deaf to the cries of those that suffer.
The Eucharist that the Lord instituted on Holy Thursday is the greatest antidote to the selfishness and the stubbornness that impede us to love; it is the sacrament of love, it is a school of love, that it unites us in one love: The love of God for us. A true and authentic love that is donation, that is generous.
"The disciples of the Lord, united to Christ through the Eucharist, live in a communion that links them to each other as members of one body. This means that the other belongs to me, his/her life, his/her salvation, have to do with my own life and my salvation."
You may think that this may sound like all nice theory. But IT’S NOT! It is something very tangible. It is something very real that I’m sure each one of us have experience it one way or another.
In these final hours in which we move ever more to the climax where life conquered death, like John the apostle, let us accompany our Holy Mother. Who better than her to teach us how to love how her son loves? Let us walk in company of Mary this intense time for the whole church and rise with the Lord Jesus to a life full of love.
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