The Maiden Warrior

… Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher) … Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and she told them that he had said these things to her.
John 20:19-23

Consider:
A good habit to have when reading the Sacred Scriptures is placing ourselves in the sandals of our ancestors in the faith to understand the depth of the salvation God grants us through Jesus Christ. With that in mind, let’s consider Mary Magdalene’s thoughts as she walks to Christ’s tomb the morning of His resurrection.

I remember the moment I fell before you, splayed out in the weariness of my bondage, begging for mercy. You saw my bruises from the seven demons that assaulted me day and night, you heard my cries, and you exorcized those demons from me. Hope and joy instantly replaced my despair. I was a new woman! I loved you, I followed you; I believed your promises. You gave me a new name: Beloved. Oh, Jesus, now I’m bereft. You have forsaken me. I don’t know who I am anymore; I’ve forgotten my name.

The tomb is empty, and Mary’s despair has robbed her memory of Christ’s promise. Jesus stands nearby, waiting for Mary to look at him. He quietly calls to her, Mary! She turns and says to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabbouni!’ (which means Teacher).

Despair does that to us, doesn’t it? It can creep into our lives slowly taking possession of us, causing us to forget who we are and who Christ is. Despair can happen in a catastrophic event that quakes the ground beneath us, threatening to destroy us. We have all been there, and still, we soldier on worshipping at mass after mass, confessing our sin confession after confession. We need to hear the word of Jesus: You are my beloved child, I have chosen you, I am with you, I am keeping my promise to you, I will never leave you or forsake you.

Pray:
Jesus, your Word reminds me that you knew me before I was born; in my mother’s womb, you named me. Would you remind me of that when despair begins to creep in? I want to know that my love for you is not in vain. When I have spent my last strength to seek you, help me to stay silent and listen for your Words of consolation– ‘You are my servant in whom I will be glorified.’ When I cry out to you, ‘I have labored in vain, and I have spent my strength for nothing in return,’ remind me that my name is inscribed on the palm of your hand, and recompense will come; you will never forget me! ~Amen (adapted Isaiah 49:1-5; 15-16)

Act:
We are a Resurrection people! Christ didn’t leave the Magdala in her despair on Resurrection morning, and he doesn’t leave us now, but all too often, we think our despair is ours to carry alone. The tomb you keep mourning is empty of your despair! Christ fought for hope when he conquered death, hell, and the grave. On this Easter Sunday, declare your faith in Our Risen Lord, put down your despair, and turn to follow Jesus to new life.

And [Pilate] said to [the mob], ‘Behold, the man!’
~St. John 19:5

Consider:
The processional for Palm Sunday Mass includes an invitation to Christ’s Passion. With all faith and devotion, let us commemorate the Lord’s entry into the city of our Salvation, following in his footsteps, so that, being made by his grace partakers of the Cross, we may have a share also in his Resurrection and his life. I kindle to the word invitation for it calls for a response. The invitation begins with Pilate’s words to the frenzied mob as the humiliated humanity of Jesus is paraded before them; Pilate exclaims, Behold the Man. That invitation into Christ’s humanity during his Passion begs us to behold. Now, there’s another word I kindle to. We aren’t passing spectators who just glimpse this holiday we call Easter, who color Easter Eggs and bake hams; No! We behold–witness, contemplate, discern, consider, and perceive–because it is not just any man we behold. This Man, the Second Adam, is the Lamb of God who takes away the world’s sin. In him, the curse of the first man is reversed–O happy fault that earned so great, so glorious a Redeemer! Let us behold our Redeemer! In this Holy Week, we see the length, depth, breadth, and height God went to regain his own–us, his beloved children. He exchanged himself as payment to redeem us to himself. This week is truly the path back home to our Father!

Broken and Spilled Out

[Christ Jesus] though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped.
Rather, he emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
coming in human likeness;
and found human in appearance,
he humbled himself,
becoming obedient to death,
even death on a cross.
Because of this, God greatly exalted him
and bestowed on him the name
that is above every name,
that 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.
~Philippians 2:6-11

Christologists have a word for today’s Epistle passage from St. Paul’s letter to the Philippians (2:6-11): Kenosis. In our commemoration of Christ’s Passion, we will observe the complete ‘self-emptying’ of Christ’s divine nature to suffer humanity–Behold the Man! That is the Savior we need–suffering human emotions and pain to lead us to empty our disordered human nature. God, with skin on, incarnated himself into us so that we may be re-created into our created identity as sons and daughters of The Most High God. Mind-blowing! And the only way of our re-creation is to follow Christ in His Passion. We, as Catholics, refer to this as redemptive suffering as we understand all suffering is a sacrament we unite with our Lord Jesus Christ. No suffering is wasted when we unite it with our Lord Jesus Christ’s suffering for us in His Passion. Let’s begin.

There’s an arresting (no pun intended) moment in today’s Gospel reading from St. Mark 14, hours before Judas’ betrayal, which foreshadows Christ’s Passion. Jesus was in Bethany, just outside of Jerusalem, eating with Simon, the leper, when a woman came with an alabaster jar of perfumed oil, costly genuine spikenard. She broke the alabaster jar and poured it on his head. Accusations and complaints followed about the extravagance of her offering being wasted on Jesus’ head. Jesus replies, Let her alone. Why do you make trouble for her? She has done a good thing for me… wherever the gospel is proclaimed to the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.” Jesus is about to be extravagantly broken and spilled out, for humanity is anointed by a broken and spilled-out woman in thanksgiving and praise. This is the posture, the sacrifice, to be embraced as we behold the Man, Jesus.

What about you, friend? Is your love for Jesus a lavish offering of abandonment to his goodwill, or are you constrained by parsimonious withholding caused by doubt and skepticism? Jesus told us that when we give, it will be given to [us]. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into [our] lap, for the measure [we] give will be the measure [we] get back. (St. Luke 6:38)

Pray:
Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me. It is so easy to get caught up in grasping what I think I deserve from this life that I forget this life is not where I belong; I’m on my way home to You. I don’t belong here; therefore, I am not defined or controlled by what others may think of me, what I have or don’t have, what I do or don’t do. Empty me of all that is not You so that I may be permeated by all that is You! ~Amen

Act:
Choose your most treasured possession and lavish it on another.

They (the soldiers who had mocked, beaten, and humiliated Jesus) pressed into service a passer-by, Simon, a Cyrenian, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross.

~St. Mark 15:21

Consider:

Today, we are invited to enter the profundity of all ages–Holy Week. The excruciating events of this week grant us the most extraordinary depth of insight into Jesus’ heart. It is incumbent on our faith in God to enter this week with humility and thanksgiving, for in this week, we see in stark detail what Love beckons us to become.

Jesus taught his disciples that if they wanted to follow him, they must take up their cross (Matthew 10:28). And St. Paul reminded the believers in the Early Church that we complete Christ’s sufferings through our willingness to suffer as Christ suffered (Colossians 1:24). The economy of Salvation stupifies me sometimes—no, much of the time! We gain when we lose, live when we die, and are exalted only through humility.

Let’s keep that in mind as we consider Simon of Cyrene, who physically entered Christ’s suffering by carrying his cross for him. St. Luke observes that after laying the cross on [Simon], they made him carry it behind Jesus. Interesting point. Don’t you want to know what may have run through his mind as he followed the God-man, beaten beyond recognition, stumbling along before him? We do know this: the way (attitude) Simon carried Christ’s Cross changed the trajectory of his life, much in the way the Lord wants to transform our lives. (St. Simon spread The Gospel in northern Africa; he was eventually martyred for his faith in Christ around 100 A.D. His sons, Alexander and Rufus, were among the first believers in the Early Church in Rome. Because of the influence of St. Simon of Cyrene, we can assume The Church was graced with Tertullian, St. Augustine, St. Cyprian, and St. Monica from northern Africa)

If we genuinely desire to follow Christ to eternal life, we must first walk The Way of The Cross. But how exactly do we do that? Jesus told his disciples that he was the Good Shepherd who laid down his life for his sheep. The Greek meaning here is that Christ laid down his life, soul, heart, and mind. He calls us to do the same; how are we doing? Do we lay down our thoughts and words? Do we lay down our desires? How often do our tongues complain when a circumstance or someone messes with our plans? How often do we complain to others about someone who has offended us? How frequently do our minds refuse another’s need because it will cause us discomfort?

Isaiah prophesied that Jesus would be like a lamb, led to slaughter. Have you ever observed lambs? They just follow the sheep who follow the shepherd. Hmm? What if Simon complained and blamed Christ as he bore his burden to The Cross? What would have happened to Alexander and Rufus if Simon had complained about his burden of following Christ to his Cross? What happens in us when we spur suffering as if we don’t deserve it? How are the observers of our lives affected by our attitudes in the face of unwelcomed interruptions?

Every bit of inconvenience, interruption, and disruption is God’s will for us in that moment where we have the choice to lay down our life, soul, heart, and mind. Although minor inconveniences have little consequence, they provide practice in laying down our lives with an attitude of thanksgiving. When the consequential sufferings of our lives come along, we recognize them as the call of Christ to complete his suffering by carrying our cross in what he has allowed in our lives.

Christ went to the Cross to save us from the immense sufferings of sin and death. He allows whatever temporal sufferings–the diagnosis, the betrayal, the tragedy, the loss–to save us from ourselves along the way. He saves us in the circumstances, and our mind, body, and soul will be transformed into his likeness! That is the way of The Cross.

Pray:
Shepherd of my heart and Savior of my life, I exalt you; my soul magnifies you! Yet I so quickly magnify my molehills into mountains when something comes along to mess with my control. Please forgive me for my pride, fear, and self-absorption. You created me in your image; it takes a lifetime of surrendering my will to you. Why do I delay it by resisting Your will for me in each circumstance? Why do I doubt your everlasting love for me? You will never lead me where you do not want me to go, but sometimes I do. Lead me back to the Way of the Cross, the path of my salvation. ~Amen

Act:

Consider taking up the Daily Examination as a habit. I’ve included a link to help you along.