HOLY WEEK--MONDAY

'Yahweh is my light and my salvation, whom should I fear? Yahweh is the fortress of my life, whom should I dread?

 When the wicked advance against me to eat me up, they, my opponents, my enemies, are the ones who stumble and fall.

Though an army pitch camp against me, my heart will not fear, though war break out against me, my trust will never be shaken.'

PSALM 27: 1-3

Do you at times feel crippled by fear and uncertainty? Do you feel like you are staring in the darkness and the void of tomorrow? Do you feel weak, tired, helpless about certain situations in your life? Yes, me too! But read this psalm aloud: tell yourself that the Lord is your rock, your fortress, your stronghold. Sometimes, when I feel overwhelmed by school, or work, or family problems, all there is left in me to say is: Jesus, I trust in You. Repeatedly. And you might feel like 'well, why would I say that if at that moment I don't feel it?!?!?!' Well, that small phrase is an act of surrender to the Lord--you are telling him that you trust in his promise and his plan for you and that it is He (and not yourself) who will get you through this difficult time. And, perhaps more importantly, you are reassuring yourself that there is a God who you trust and who you can rely on! You might be doubtful when you first say this, but, trust me, after repeating it to yourself several times, you will start believing it! The Holy Spirit will descend upon you and grant you peace in the midst of chaos.

Fear is a very human reaction. But we must not be crippled by it! Don't let the devil get a hold of you through fear. Ask Jesus to put your heart inside his heart and shelter it, to grant you strength, or patience, or joy, or whatever it is you need to get through the trial. He will not leave your side. In those difficult moments, Jesus is present and willing to help!  Cry out to Jesus!

DAY 40--PALM SUNDAY

'But he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, becoming as human beings are; and being in every way like a human being, he was humbler yet, even to accepting death, death on a cross. And for this God raised him high, and gave him the name which is above all other names; so that all beings in the heavens, on earth and in the underworld, should bend the knee at the name of Jesus and that every tongue should acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord, to the glory of God the Father.'

PHILIPPIANS 2:7-11

It is the fortieth day of our countdown--but guess what? Lent ain't over yet! The best is yet to come! 

Today is Palm Sunday, also known as the mass with the longest Gospel reading ever. But in all seriousness, today we had the pleasure of living through Jesus' triumphant entrance to Jerusalem, being hailed as a king, only to be murdered a few days later in the most horrifying way, alone and forsaken by His followers. It is absolutely heart-wrenching, especially if you consider that the Christ is, throughout His passion, paying off for those sins we've committed. I sit there and think... 'Lord, when you were being spitted on, it was to pay off for my arrogance, and when you were being scourged it was because of all the times I've heard others with my words...' If we take a moment and analyse the passion we can see the punishment for our own personal sins being taken on by Jesus.

Since we will have another opportunity to meditate on the passion on Good Friday, I would like to concentrate instead on today's second reading (see above). Let's see if you can grasp the reality that God the Son, Jesus, chose to leave his comfortable spot to the right of the Father to become a human and therefore a slave to his own humanity (minus sin). This means that everything Jesus experienced in His passion hurt Him as much as it would have hurt us regular human beings. He LOWERED Himself not only to be human but to die on a cross (which, as we've said before, was the most humiliating and excruciating method of torture of the time). He didn't have to do it. Did He do it because we deserve it? Heck no. Now way. He did it because---drum-roll---He. Loves. Us. That. Much.

'God raised Him on high'---yes He did... high up in that cross. It is in that cross that Jesus wins the victory for us, so that's why at the name of JESUS every knee shall bow in heaven, on earth, and in the underworld (because even demons must bow down to Jesus) and declare that HE IS LORD!!!!!!

Is Jesus lord of your life?

If He is not... then you're missing out on the greatest love story there is. May He always sit on the throne of our hearts.

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 38--Praise Him in the Storm!

'Sing to Yahweh, praise Yahweh, for he has delivered the soul of one in need from the clutches of evil doers.'

JEREMIAH 20:13

The world won't like it when you follow the Lord, when you refuse to do things that everyone else seems to be doing. But take courage! You have your own personal superhero: God himself. When people want to harm you, when you are persecuted because of the Gospel, remember that the Lord won't give you more than you can take--and yes, He will allow these things to happen--such is life--but hang on to Him with all your strength and He will get you through. He will deliver you in His own time. DO NOT LET GO. Sometimes it feels like it would be easier and more convenient to just forget about God and live a 'normal' life in the world. In fact, there are 'Christians' out there that will tell you God wants you to have everything you ever wanted--money, prestige, fame--and that if you don't have it then you must be doing something wrong or your relationship with Christ is not real. Well, newsflash: that's not what Jesus said. Jesus said to us 'if you want to follow me, you must take up your cross!' Now, who wants to do that when the world is so much more luring and comfortable (at first glance)? Who wants to take on unnecessary suffering just to be in the way with Christ? 

Well, no one does it out of sheer pleasure. Do you really think Jesus thought 'YAAAAAAAY, CRUCIFIXION!!!'? He went through with it out of love for us, not because it seemed fun or awesome to do it. And the thing is, once you have a profound experience of the love of Christ and initiate a relationship with Him, you can't help but to love Him and you can't see a life without Him. So you will take up your cross and follow. It might not be the path to riches and fame, but it will be the path that will satisfy the deepest desires of your soul. Besides, life will have challenges anyway, so why not go through it with the hope that at the end of it you get to be welcomed into heaven by your lover, your best friend, Jesus.

So, if you are in a very difficult situation at the moment, trust that He will get you through, sing and exalt His name for He is good.

Day 37-- THE GREAT I AM!

'Jesus replied: In all truth I tell you, before Abraham ever was, I AM.'

JOHN 8:58

If you have ever heard a 'Christian' say that Jesus was the son of God but was not actually God, this is the Bible verse you should have thrown at their face (figuratively). 

This blog is usually a space to talk about the love of God and turning to Jesus and all that, but today I want to address this issue because I've encounter endless numbers of people who claim to believe in Jesus but don't believe in his divinity. Look, in this passage, Jesus tells the Jews, firstly, that before Abraham ever existed, He was already around. Secondly, Jesus calls himself 'I AM', which is the name of God himself as revealed to Moses in the burning bush-- YAHWEH,  the holy name of God, which translates into 'I AM'. So Jesus is telling the Jews He existed before Abraham because He himself is God--no room for discussion. And if you think Jesus was just using symbolism, take a look at the Jews' reaction: they almost stone Him because to them this was a great blasphemy.

So if you ever had a question about the divinity of Jesus, please do yourself a favor and study Scripture. It's all in there. 100% God. 100% man. How? Just because God can do it. Is the offspring of a horse a horse? Yes. Is the son of a man a man? Duh. So what is the Son of God? Bingo. If he were just a simple human, why would we think that his sacrifice in the cross would have the power to redeem the whole world? So when Jesus says I AM, imagine the split reaction: some people tore their garments in indignation, but others must have been like: 

May we be like the latter!! May the name of Jesus  make our hearts tremble!!

'that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth' (Phil 2:10).

Day 36--The truth will set you free!!

'To the Jews who believed in him Jesus said: If you make my word your home you will indeed be my disciples; you will come to know the truth, and the truth will set you free'.

JOHN 8:31-32

The truth will set you free, Jesus says. But what is 'the truth'? Well, Jesus himself! He is the truth, the way, and the life. And we believe in Him, if we make His word our home, we will be free. Because freedom is not about being able to do whatever we want whenever we want. True freedom is about being unchained from sin and dwelling in the love of God, who is all goodness and who want to give us life in abundance! 

The world will tell you that freedom is living life on your own terms. But what the world fails to tell you is that this so-called freedom will fail to satisfy you. Because we were created by God and we will not rest until we rest in Him. Jesus is our true freedom simply because he lifts up the burden of our sins and takes it upon Him and to the cross. He loves us unconditionally. But He doesn't force anyone to follow Him. He waits patiently for us--and boy, some of us take a very long time! Some of us go our lives looking for something to fill up that hole in our hearts and souls, and we use all kinds of things to fulfill that need--other people, careers, money, drugs, alcohol, food, etc. But seriously, that is a hole designated to be filled exclusively by God, so nothing else will work. 

If you are seeking with all your heart to fill that void, don't despair. Those who seek with an open heart and who truly desire to find the truth will find Him. Ask God to help you find Him, ask Him to show himself to you! He won't relent until He has you. 

Day 35--the Bronze Serpent

'Moses then made a serpent out of bronze and raised it as a standard, and anyone who was bitten by a serpent and looked at the bronze serpent survived.'

NUMBERS 21:9

Yes, this one is pretty odd. So the Jews were walking around the desert for a very long time after Moses got them out of Egypt, and they became impatient and began speaking against God, so God sent snakes to them and many died. So the Jews tell God 'oh no, we're really sorry, please stop this!' and what does God do? He commissions Moses to make a bronze serpent, just like the ones that were biting the people, and lift it up on a pole, and those who looked at it were healed.

Symbolism much? Just to give you an idea...

Does it look familiar? Ringing any bells? Anyone? Anyone?

LET ME GIVE YOU A HINT--

BOOM!

The bronze snake is lifted up so the people  could be healed of the attack of the snake. The Son of God, Jesus, is lifted up on a cross so that we can be healed of the attack of the snake--the devil, sin. And why is a snake the cure for snake bite? Well, it's not that the snake is the cure--it's that the snake up in the pole is rendered powerless. And our sins, nailed up in that cross, are rendered  powerless!! Jesus, the Lamb, the blameless victim, is covered in our sins--he rips them away from us and takes them up on his shoulders and up to be crucified with Him. 

This is why, in today's gospel, Jesus tells the Jews 'When you have lifted up the Son of man, then you will know that I am He' (John 8:28). When we look up at the crucified Christ, lifted up in humiliation, we see how great is His love! A symbol of death,  the most horrible method of torture and humiliation became to us the biggest demonstration of the most pure, beautiful, overwhelming love of God, stretching up His arms towards us, shedding every drop of His blood for us, who can never possibly deserve it. Breaking our chains, setting us free, healing our wounds, giving us the peace we so long for. That is the awful and awe-striking truth of the cross.