The beauty and awe of the Mass of the Last Supper is behind us now. We are waiting and watching, trying — perhaps unsuccessfully, like the apostles — to stay awake with the Lord. Tomorrow will bring suffering and pain, and yet tonight, all is quiet, despite the howling winds outside.
“You will not fear the terror of the night
nor the arrow that flies by day,
nor the plague that prowls in the darkness
nor the scourge that lays waste at noon.”
— Psalm 91
This is a day of darkness. Judas’ hour of truth. The scariest part of this day, I think, is the realization that Judas is in all of us. So often we look at Judas with disgust, but his story is all too often our story. We make the wrong choices, we turn our backs on God, we think we know better.
“Judas is neither a master of evil nor the figure of a demoniacal power of darkness but rather a sycophant who bows down before the anonymous power of changing moods and current fashion. But it is precisely this anonymous power that crucified Jesus, for it was anonymous voices that cried, ‘Away with him! Crucify him!’” — Pope Benedict XVI (more…)
I thought today was going to be a really good day, at least in a spiritual sense. I went to Morning Prayer and Mass at my parish, something I almost never do on weekdays, and I didn’t even feel flustered when I found myself lost during the Liturgy of the Hours, flipping pages back and forth to find the right prayers. I just soaked it in, being uncharacteristically patient with myself.
Then I came home and was confronted with a situation that has been a bit of burden for my entire family for the past two years. Again, instead of getting annoyed or angry, I felt strangely at peace and decided that when I had a moment of quiet, I was going to call the person at the heart of this problem and try to put things right once and for all so that everyone could move on. I thought surely the Spirit was at work. I didn’t feel any anger toward this person — who had treated me very unjustly. All I felt was love and a sense of forgiveness. I wondered to myself, “Why don’t I go to daily Mass more often? Look at the positive effect it’s having.” (more…)
It’s late and I’m exhausted, but I have to take a few minutes to say thank you to all of you who came out to my book release and signing party on Saturday at The Book House. You made the day very special — and you bought every last copy of my book that was on store shelves, plus all the books I was hauling around in my trunk. I am awed and humbled by your love, support and friendship.
I know that Saturdays are busy days and you could have been doing lots of other fun things. Some of you drove hours just to shell out money for a book and eat some fruit and cheese. I am honored that you would carve out time from your very full lives to share in this celebration with me. Thank you.
Can you believe tomorrow is Palm Sunday? Where did this Lent go? Today, because I’m super busy getting ready for my book release party in just a few hours, I thought I’d give you some great places to go to get inspiration for the coming week.
Head on over to Our Sunday Visitor for a really nice (free) downloadable poster for Holy Week. Click HERE to get this poster, which includes cool information about things like why we turn our pieces of palm into little crosses, why we color Easter eggs, plus lots more on the really sacred parts of Holy Week. (more…)
