yesterday was the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. i am far too small to put the beauty of the Cross of Jesus into anything like sufficient right now, so i will let photos and bible verses do what i shant dare...for now.
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| we adore Thee O Christ, and we bless Thee, because by Your Holy Cross, You have redeemed the world |
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| Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus, Who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God 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 i wrote this reflection about a week ago not knowing what i would do with it. and then God said, let it be the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. so another perfect timing point to God. i have a particular devotion to this title of Our Lady and i strongly recommend you to meditate on her sorrows. they are beautiful and they have been an enormous part of my spiritual growth. so, without further ado...  I often have thought about Mary and today I thought to myself as I often have, I wish I could be like Mary. I wish I could come to Jesus and offer myself as pure and lovely and sweet and beautiful as Mary. And I will always wish that because my heart longs to be perfect and good for Jesus. Though I will not ever be pure like Mary, because she was conceived without original sin, I can bring something to Jesus that is a little like her after all: a heart that is pierced with the suffering of an earthly existence. Though her heart was so perfect and beautiful and blameless, it was pierced. Pierced with swords that were only second to Jesus’ in sharpness. And she gave this heart that experienced the effects of the fall in watching her Son take on all of them for us; and she shows us how to do the same. To say Fiat in all circumstances. Even and Especially the darkest. As she stood at the tomb of Christ and watched the Light of the world be shut into the darkness of death, even still she did not despair. She shone as the first star in the night sky over a vast endless ocean of unknown depths. She pierced the darkness by maintaining her hope in the Lord and by echoing throughout her life the Fiat of her youth. I have echoed the cry of all of humanity. Of Adam and Eve: “This is not what we wanted”, we all cry. This pain. This exile. This toil and strife and darkness. And God heard our cry and gave us Himself. Not only to die, but to be eaten by us. And He remained here in the Eucharist so we would never be alone. So we would never be without Him. He said “I am with you always”. And He meant it. This is where the rubber meets the road in our faith life. Our Lady probably felt very much that this is not what she wanted. She did not want or desire to watch her Son be viciously murdered. But she trusted that God was in control. Even as she held Him in her arms at the foot of the Cross. She received Him then as she received Him at the Annunication. Fiat, she said. This is why the Pieta is my favorite sculpture in creation. It is a depiction of the two humans on this earth that trusted God completely and obeyed Him perfectly and withheld nothing from Him. and there they are. Together saying Fiat. With the softest smiles of hope and trust without knowing the immersion of Beauty that was to engulf them was on the horizon. To hope without attaching our expectations to that hope. To hope and trust in the Lord like our Lady did at the Cross. Not knowing or seeing through the darkness what Beauty Christ has prepared for us.  Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us |
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