These are very uncertain times.
Our normal lives have been completely disrupted. We are now at home relying on some form of technology to stay connected – and tech has glitches. Families are having to adapt to homeschooling and the stress of young ones at home who don’t understand what is happening. Grocery shopping has become a hunter-gatherer activity. The local and global economies are basically shut down. Those who still have their jobs wonder for how much longer. Even churches are feeling the pain in the form of decreased giving. We are all feeling the pinch of this uncertainty.
I am tempted to ask, “Is anything certain anymore?” The answer is, “Of course.” The one thing that is certain is God’s love for all of us. Even in times of great crises, when we feel so alone, he is there for us.
Jesus pours himself out for love of us.
“Christ Jesus…though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped.”
Philippians 2:6
Jesus, the Eternal Word, before he took on flesh was God! He needed nothing! He didn’t have to do any of this, and yet he did! He took on flesh that we might more fully share in the inner life of the Trinity. He took on flesh because it was good for us! We humans have had a long history of trying to grasp equality with God. From Adam and Eve to today’s culture in which everything is an individual’s decision we have been grasping. And yet Jesus, who is God, doesn’t grasp even at being God.
“Coming in human likeness… he humbled himself”
Philippians 2:7
Now that’s a major step down! Although taking on flesh doesn’t make Jesus any less God, he does take on all of our human condition. Notice that he doesn’t take on the human flesh of a king. He doesn’t even take on a nice life in the suburbs. As child and man, he takes on a life of poverty, of fleeing one step ahead of his persecutors. He takes the form of a slave, the lowest among us. All of the uncertainties we feel even today, Jesus Christ took upon himself out of love for us.
“Obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
Philippians 2:8
Jesus gives himself up for us. By his sacrifice he defeats death. We share in that victory! Christ suffered and died for us on the cross. In his passion we see the lengths to which Jesus, the Christ, God goes for love of us. That love continues to this day.
The love of Jesus Christ for each of us is that one certain thing.
This is Holy Week, the celebration of days leading up to Christ’s passion, death, and resurrection. We will join ourselves once again to the peak of Christ’s saving actions. On Holy Thursday, our liturgy will find us at the last supper. On Good Friday we will stand at the foot of the cross. On Holy Saturday we will experience the silence of the tomb as we simply wait. Once the sun sets, and the third day has begun we celebrate Christ’s victory over death in the Easter Vigil.
In a way we will all be in Jerusalem even as we remain at home, apart from the world. In our liturgy and in our prayers we will be with Christ who transcends space and time. We will be with one another and with the whole Church. We will be united as the mystical Body of Christ with the Lord as our head. In that precious time all will be as it should be.
This year, let’s really live out Holy Week.
This year is different. Very different. For Holy Week, this year, I am asking you to pay attention to each of the livestreamed or televised Holy Week events and see in them the love of Christ poured out for us. See his love for us in his passion and death. He has entered our world and taken on human flesh. He has taken on our suffering and is with us in our sadness, our isolation, our uncertainty, or our being simply overwhelmed. Let’s open ourselves to the loving presence of God who lovingly and willingly took on all of these sufferings. He is there for you, and the passion that we just read shows how far he will go for you. Jesus Christ loves you that much. Today. Right now.
Take a moment each day this week to feel his love. Allow yourself to truly believe
Great blog Tom!
Congratulations!
Tim