HOLY THURSDAY

'You call me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.'

JOHN 13:13-15


Here's the thing about Jesus: you might feel like He's constantly asking for too much of his followers (us), right? But everything He asks for He follows by His own example. Look here--the King of Kings, God incarnate, washing some guys' dirty feet! Remember back then they wore sandals everywhere and they had no pavement, so imagine the state of those feet. And He washed them, physically lowering Himself in an act of humility.

And He tells us 'if you love me, you would do as I do! If I am your teacher, then learn from me!'

How many times do we lower ourselves to do such a task? And I'm speaking symbolically here--not necessarily washing another person's feet (unless required) but lowering ourselves to the state of a servant who washes feet. St. Francis of Assisi, for example, used to treat lepers' wounds and hug and kiss them--rotting flesh and all!

Yes, that makes me shudder as well (in a bad way) because we're just not used to going out of our ways to such an extreme for people. But Jesus did it for love. And St. Francis did it for love (he asked Jesus to show Himself in the lepers' faces). What is your love sacrifice?

You can start small, at home, with your friends. But don't limit yourself to those you love--after all, didn't Jesus say that there people who do bad things also just love their loved ones?

I know this is very hard! We have this tendency to wanting to receive when we give and to want to feel all dignified, but humbling yourself at the service of others does not make you less of a person!

I once served in a youth conference where my job was solely to set up chairs and take out the trash. And it was a beautifully enriching experience to know that you are doing your part in God's mission!

And speaking of practice what you preach: what other proof do you need from Jesus? He humbled himself by dying the most horrible death even though He was innocent. But He also humbled himself to become a piece of bread and little bit of wine. In all his power and majesty  He could have just said "no, these people are not worthy of my inhabiting in them". Instead, He said "this is my body, this is my blood, eat me, drink me, so that I may dwell in you!"

The mystery of it all! That the God of all the universe can be chewed on and gulped in by us!!! Not even the angels have that privilege!

Today, meditate on the gift of the Eucharist and ask the Lord to transform you through His body and blood so that you can be that servant He needs you to be. And thank Him for the sacrifice you didn't deserve, and for His love. And you know what? Make sure you don't leave the church without telling Him how much you love Him.

Day 39--The Blood of the Covenant

'They will no longer defile themselves with their foul idols, their horrors and any of their crimes. I shall save them from the acts of infidelity which they have committed and shall cleanse them; they will be my people and I shall be their God.'

EZEKIEL 37:23

The history of salvation consists on God making covenants with His people and His people going around and screwing up, only to suffer the consequences of their wrongs and ultimately turn back to God, who then establishes a new covenant. It's the same old, same old throughout the whole of the Old Testament. But here, God, through the prophet Ezekiel, is promising a kingdom in which His people will be cleansed and well, his once again... but this time forever. 

God would establish these covenants with men like Adam, Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, David, etc. But every time, His people would eventually turn away and break the alliance. So what did He do? Well, He became man. 

Jesus' blood is the new covenant, as we hear in mass everyday. His sacrifice is the covenant of covenants and we don't need another contract/agreement with God after this because His is the ultimate sacrifice. It is through the passion and resurrection that we may be God's people again, that we are purified, forgiven, brought back to life. 

Yet, isn't it confusing that, even after Jesus' sacrifice, we still sin, we still have idols (money, friends, fame, drugs) and we are still unfaithful to God? Yup, that's pretty messed up. But remember that God doesn't force us to anything. He might have died on the cross to redeem us, but sometimes we reject this redemption, this grace, by committing sins and putting other things before God. We still have our free-will, so the ultimate decision to be God's people is ours. God's invitation is there: 'Be mine, I love you, look what I've done so that we may be together'. How will you respond?

Our lives are a struggle to live up to the covenant--and we will fail every single day. But it's all about truly trying to be that holy people of God. Ask the Lord to give you a pure heart and to help you sin no more! We are all in this together, remember that. 

Day 13--Give and Take

36 'Be compassionate just as your Father is compassionate.

37 Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven.

38 Give, and there will be gifts for you: a full measure, pressed down, shaken together, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap; because the standard you use will be the standard used for you.'

LUKE 6:36-38

Don't you just want to be like:

'Dear God,

please stop asking for things that are so hard to do.

Okay, bye.'

I get it... be compassionate, do not judge, give... too.. much... work...

But the thing is--why should we expect compassion, or a fair judgment, or to receive things from God? Do we deserve any of that? NO.  Yet He still does all these things for us. But there's the condition, per usual: do unto others as you would have it do unto you.  If you are judgmental, of course God is going to hold you to a stricter standard (because being judgmental implies we think ourselves better/smarter/holier than others), and if you are compassionate, of course God is going to be like "aawwww, this one has a good, loving heart, let's give her/him a break!"

You know, a few years back I found an old journal that I kept in high school and read a few pages. I was so appalled--- my writing reflected how judgmental and self-righteous I was! Reading that made me feel so ugly, it was sickening! Because being judgmental means lacking love. And a person who lacks love is an unhappy person. I don't want to be that person, do you?

And you know the thing about giving---it might hurt at first, but the joy that it begets makes up for any loss. Like St. Francis of Assisi says, 'it is in giving that we receive'. That's what Jesus is saying in the gospel! 

So don't be afraid to love until it hurts--but truly love, not in a romantic type of way, but in the way of The Passion: to give yourself entirely to others. Don't be afraid to give--He will reward you a hundred-fold!!

Day 11--That awkward moment when God asks you to love your enemies...

43 'You have heard how it was said, You will love your neighbour and hate your enemy.

44 But I say this to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you;

45 so that you may be children of your Father in heaven, for he causes his sun to rise on the bad as well as the good, and sends down rain to fall on the upright and the wicked alike.'

MATTHEW 5: 43-45

Yup, this is the day: the day when God has to come and make us all feel bad and uncomfortable because He's asking us to love our enemies. 

Oh, God, why? Don't you see that's basically impossible. I mean... they are our enemies for a reason... or are they? Think about the people you consider enemies, or the people you really don't like... or even hate...

Why don't you like them? Why do you hate them? Did they hurt you? What did they do to you?

Sometimes, when you think about it, you don't have a good reason. BUT, if you do, think about this: if you hate them because they have been bad to you, how does hating them make you any better than them? AND, like we said yesterday: that hatred... who is it hurting? Them or you?

I know, I know... you're probably asking: "well, Cris, do you love your enemies!??!?!?!" And I will tell you: no, I do not. I fail daily at it. I have to remember myself constantly that God loves these people as much as He loves me. I have to ask God to help me see His face in these people so that I can at least feel like loving them. But you know, when you pray like that, suddenly you start noticing you have a lot less enemies than you used to... somehow I find myself being less conflicting than before, when I used to go around hating on people (yeah, being a big hater is right up my alley, but I trust God is gradually making improvements). 

But you and I , we're friends right? So I pray for you to love your enemies, and you pray for me to love my enemies, ok? We got each other, ok? Okay.

The whole loving your enemies thing distinguishes us from the world--so we need to do it proudly! Because, when Jesus was being nailed--NAILED--on a cross for our sins, he didn't have a single resentful, bitter, unforgiving thought for those men. He forgave them. Now, unless you've actually been crucified, I don't see how the offenses people have done to us are greater and harder to forgive than being nailed to a cross, naked, bruised, and bleeding.

Hey, listen, I love you! God loves you. God IS love. So let Love do His work. If you abide in His love, you will be able to love a lot easier!