RB: Ch 53: 16-24
Mass: Mt 21:1-11; Is 50:4-7; Resp Ps 22; Ph 2:6-11; Mt 26:14-27:66
My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
HEART OF JESUS, IN WHOSE FULLNESS WE HAVE ALL RECEIVED,
HAVE MERCY ON US.
As we enter the most sacred Holy Week and the most important days in the life of any Christian, we are united in faith, prayer, and the love of Our Lord Jesus Christ. As the rain falls steadily, I sit at my desk with an image of one of my favorite paintings, Rembrandt's St Peter's Denial. It is in the collection of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. I was privileged to see it in person some years ago when it was on loan at the Portland (OR) Art Museum. You will find it on the Rijksmuseum website. It is worth a look.
What impacts me every year when I look at my postcard image of the work, is Jesus in the background. It is as if looking through a window, one can see Jesus, in the shadows and in the company of soldiers and others. Jesus' hand are bound behind His back. Our Lord's body is turned away from Peter, while His head is turned to see Peter, and likely listen to his denial. Even so, I can sense the love that emanates from Jesus; the unconditional love He has for Simon Peter. Jesus knows what is going on, what Peter is doing. Peter, the one who exclaimed, "Though all may have their faith in you shaken, mine will never be … even though I should have to die with you, I will not deny you" (Mt 26:33, 35). Jesus' love for Peter never fails. Jesus' love for you, for me, never fails. No matter what.
Please take time this day to prayerfully read and reflect upon St Matthew's account of the Passion (Mt 26:14-27:66) . If you are gathered with others, you might take turns reading out loud. If alone, read the text out loud, taking time to pause and reflect. We journey with Jesus to Jerusalem. We pray for unwavering faith, to have open minds and hearts to die to the non-essentials in our life, carry our crosses, and to not deny the LOVE that died for us. At the name of Jesus, every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Ph 2:10-11).
The Lord God is my help, therefore I am not disgraced; I have set my face like flint, knowing that I shall not be put to shame.
(Is 50:7)
We pray with the Holy Father:
Let us hold close spiritually those who are sick and their families, and all those who self-sacrificingly care for them. Let us pray for the deceased in the light of the paschal faith. Everyone is present in our hearts, in our thoughts, in our prayers.
MARY, HEALTH OF THE SICK,
MARY, HEALTH OF THE SICK,
PRAY FOR US.
© Gertrude Feick 2020
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