Inspired!

A Happy and Blessed Easter to All! Alleluia!

On Good Friday, Catholics venerate the Cross. The greatest symbol of Christianity is held in front of churches throughout the world and believers walk forward and kiss the cross. Millions of people, from all walks of life, from children to the elderly, do this on Good Friday. I find it very inspiring. Good people, filled with hope, filled with belief in God and thanksgiving to Jesus for his supreme sacrifice and unconditional love for us, simply come forward and kiss the cross. In essence, they're saying, through this gesture, "Yes, we get it, we believe in Jesus, in his ultimate sacrifice." "We believe in the victory and the power of the cross." We respond with our humanness, as best we can, to that great act of selflessness and sacrifice, with a simple gesture of love and affection. It affects me.

I'm also inspired when I watch people receive Holy Communion. I always sit up front at Mass (so unusual for a Catholic!), and after receiving Communion and spending time in prayer, there is still time for me to watch the look on people's faces as they come forward to receive Communion. They lift their hands and hearts and there is such hope and expectation in their faces. They have hope that all the Church teaches will help them on their life journey. Yes, Eucharist does nurture, bless, sustain, give us spiritual nourishment and unite us to Christ. Easter joy, Easter hope, Easter resurrection.

Easter Sunday was a day filled with attending a beautiful Mass, followed by a family gathering, good food, laughter and new life. My cousin brought her month old baby, a little miracle to hold and to love. I hid Easter eggs in my backyard for my 3-year-old cousin to search for. Easter blessings in a new life unfolding, in the smiles of children and the togetherness of family.

Now it's time for me to try to finish getting my kitchen back in order before I pass out from exhaustion.

A Blessed Easter Season to all!

NJA

Jesus Transforms Suffering Into Love, Suffering Into Peace

Jesus is the image of one who has been deceived, betrayed; he seems a failure. He is fearful, timid, disoriented. Jesus forsaken is darkness, melancholy, contrast. He is the image of all that is strange, undefinable, that has something monstrous about it. Because he is God crying out for help!....He is the lonely person, the derelict...He seems useless, an outcast, in shock......Consequently we can recognize him in every suffering brother or sister. When we approach those who resemble him, we can speak to them of Jesus forsaken. To those who recognize that they are similar to him and are willing to share his fate, he becomes: for the mute, words; for the doubtful, the answer; for the blind, light; for the deaf, voice; for the weary, rest; for the desperate, hope; for the seperated, unity; for the restless, peace. With him the person is transformed and the non-meaning of suffering acquires meaning. He had cried out a "why?" to which no one replied, so that we would have the answer to every question. The problem of human life is suffering. Whatever form it may take, however terrible it may be, we know that Jesus has taken it upon himself and -as if by a divine alchemy-he transforms suffering into love. I can say from my own experience that as soon as we lovingly accept any suffering in order to be like him, and then continue to love by doing God's will, if the suffering is spiritual, it disappears; if it is physical, it becomes a light burden. When our pure love comes in contact with suffering, it transforms it into love. In a certain sense, it divinizes the suffering. We could almost say that the divinization of suffering, that Jesus brought about, continues in us. And after each encounter in which we have loved Jesus forsaken, we find God in a new way, more face to face, with greater openness and fuller unity. Light and joy return; and with the joy, that peace which is the fruit of the spirit. This light, joy and peace which blossom from suffering that is loved strike people and move even the most difficult persons. Nailed to the cross, we become mothers and fathers of souls. The effect is the greatest possible fruitfulness. As Oliver Clement writes: 'The abyss, opened for an instant by that cry, is filled with the great wind of the resurrection.' Every disunity is annulled, traumas and splits are healed, universal brotherhood is resplendent, miracles of resurrection abound, a new springtime begins for the Church and for humanity.

Words of Wisdom from Chiara Lubich

And what would Julian of Norwich say as we look forward with hope to the joy of Easter, the beauty and hopefulness of the Easter Season...she would say......."All will be well." 

NJA