We were afforded the great gift of forty days, to prepare ourselves, yet again, for the great feast of Easter. We celebrate The Paschal Mystery again and again because we are ever experiencing that reality, always anew. So you see, we have to take this years’ experience of the mystery and confer on its’ uniqueness, by celebrating it as a new and never before reality. That is precisely what each and every liturgical celebration is. We took three days to celebrate The Easter mystery, The Paschal mystery. These twenty four hours are from evening to evening. From the evening of Holy Thursday to the evening of Good Friday is one day, and the same with the other two days. Now we are going to be afforded another 50 days to contemplate on how we experience, what we celebrated, as a daily realty. Otherwise, Jesus Christ did all that he did, suffered what he suffered, for nothing, His life was then a farce, and the same could be said of our lives too.
It is our lives being led as the life of The Contemporary Christ, that gives our life, and every second we lead untold value. In each and every moment of our lives, in each and every action of our lives, we are revealing anew, Jesus Christ. I live, no not I, it is Christ who lives. What an amazing power grace has, and how Gently is it exercised. This gentleness is portrayed in the first meeting of the Risen Christ with His Dispirited disciples .
What a feeling there must have been in that room. The fear had to be palatable. The doors were locked. They had to speak in whispers for fear of detection. They had to reflect on the events of The Last Supper, Gethsemane, the betrayal by one of their own, the denial by one of their own, the suicide, the scourging, the mockery, the scorn, that long journey to Calvary, the crucifixion, the burial, the closed tomb, now the news of the empty tomb. They had to reflect on their own failure to be a supportive presence. When their Leader needed them the most, they were not there. Just a very few were able to stand and be counted, the rest fled in fear. Now, there are the feelings of not just of fear, there are those feelings of helplessness, confusion , bewilderment, hopelessness, frustration, guilt, disappointment, anger, shame, hurt, and pain. As those were the feelings of the disciples, so they are our feeling today. The only thing we have to do is to be honest enough to admit them. Human nature does not change. As it was, so it is, and ever shall be. We, each day have the great challenge of being humble enough to embrace and admit to the human condition.
" We are born human and spend our whole life coming to understand what human means.” An ever deepening reflection on the Paschal Mystery is one of the avenues open to you and I. There are times when we can reflect on this mystery from a distance. Other times life immerse us in a depth we never expected to be in, or in a place we never expected to be at. Life does throw us some real curve balls, and we are left lost beaten and bewildered. We are now ready to encounter the reality of the risen Christ. We are now in the best possible place to receive the gifts He brings. We are lost. We are empty, and emptied out. We are on the best possible place. We are now be open to having a Savior. This Savior brings with Him, Not peace, but Shalom. Shalom is something much more than peace. The wish for Shalom brings with it the following, hold out your emptiness so you can receive the following;
Completeness, wholeness, health, peace welfare, safety, soundness, tranquility, prosperity, perfectness, fullness, rest, harmony, the absence of agitation and discord.
We think of peace just as the absence of war. The Shalom on The Risen Christ Is so much more than that. It is always there for us. Here is a little exercise I recommend. Take a look at that list. Then take a look at you life's journey. Now make a decision what as regards the particular gift you are in need of right now. As you stand under the shower let the running water be the reality of what you ache for. You will have to leave the shower at some point in time, but let that memory of the running water be a constant reminder of the deeper reality. That reality is GOD pouring down, you as constant stream, that gift you so desire. This constant stream will pore down on you each and every second of the day. I must remind you are in charge of the tap. God cannot take over your free will, He loves you too much. God will not turn that tap for you. I hope and pray you will love yourself enough to enjoy the......Shower........ Of..........Shalom.
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