WEDNESDAY OF HOLY WEEK - 2013

 Scripture:

The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. Luke 19:10

Reflection:

As Holy Week (or Passion Week) nears the end, Jesus' purpose for coming into this world is about to be fulfilled. Jesus came to seek and save the lost. Though he was a great teacher, he did not come to give us great volumes of profound teachings. Though he was the King of kings, his purpose was not to set up and reign in an earthly kingdom. He was born with one mission, one goal, one destination. He lived his whole life with singleness of purpose. He knew why he came; he kept that in focus. The cross. The cross was why he came. He came to pay the penalty for mankind's sins by his death on the cross. He came to seek and save the lost.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, you came with one purpose in mind: to seek and save the lost. That is who we were: the lost. We thank you that because of your sacrifice, we who have put our trust in you can say "were lost" in the past tense. We were lost in sin, but found by you. We were separated from God, but you drew us near. We were your enemies, but you made us your friends. We are eternally grateful for what you did for us. Amen.

MONDAY OF HOLY WEEK - 2013

Scripture:

Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast. Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." John 12:20-21

Reflection:

Everywhere we go, people want to see Jesus. Oh, they may not realize that they want to see him, but everyone has a void that only Jesus can fill. They may have seen certain aspects of the Church that haven't been, shall we say, praiseworthy. They may know people who are Christians in name only, but show no convincing evidence beyond their verbal declaration. Many who have been turned off by poor examples and outright hypocrisy might say they don't want anything to do with Jesus, but that doesn't minimize their need for him. It is up to us, who claim to be followers of Jesus, to be the best and clearest example of Jesus we can be. People wish to see and need to see Jesus. We are the only Jesus people will see. Let's represent him well.

Prayer:

Lord, may we always be good examples of you, the Jesus people want to see. Though we may often fall short of this goal, may it be our desire. Help us to make a conscious effort to live in a Christlike manner. May we determine that we will never be the reason people reject you, but rather the reason people want to know more about you and want to commit their lives to you. We thank you for those in our lives that reveal Jesus to us so many ways. May we be that person to someone else. Amen.

The Monk's Mission

I came across this quote from Thomas Merton and thought readers of this blog would appreciate it.

"The monk is not defined by his task, his usefulness; in a certain sense he is to be useless, because his mission is not to do this or that job but to be a man of God."

In the midst of your doing for God, don't forget to simply be for God.