The Crucifixion and Forgiveness

Good Morning, dear reader. Happy Sunday! We embark on our journey into the third week of Easter. The resurrection was so glorious and miraculous that we celebrate it for 50 days, ending on Pentecost Sunday. As a matter of fact, the Easter season is more important than Christmas!! 

We have touched upon the book of Revelation in previous posts. As you will recall, Revelation is mostly symbolic in nature. It is not to be taken literally. There really isn't much explaining needed for this passage. In today's reading, you will see Jesus Christ referred to as the Lamb. We also hear this at mass when we pray "Lamb of God, You take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us." just before we receive communion. Equating Jesus with a lamb means that He is the perfect and ultimate sacrifice for sin. (There's a longer explanation, having to do with Passover and its celebration, but this is it in a nutshell.) All the creatures in heaven and on earth rejoice and honour God and His Son, Jesus.   

Now, on to John. Jesus asks Peter three times if he truly loves Him. He asks this because Peter was the one who denied Jesus three times before His crucifixion. So, now, Jesus is a little doubtful about how faithful Peter is to Him. However, Jesus is willing to forgive Peter and the role he played in His death. As we have seen throughout the Gospels, Peter becomes the most favoured and important Apostle. Probably because he did feel guilty about what he did to Jesus and now wants to make up for it. 

I think what this passage is trying to convey is that no matter how bad our actions are, Jesus is always willing to forgive and give us another chance. This doesn't mean you should keep doing something you know is bad just because you know that Jesus will forgive you. He can sense when you are insincere, and He will dole out punishment. I'm just saying, that in our everyday, imperfect lives, we mess up. We're all sinners. It's comforting to know that I can never be so awful that Jesus won't forgive me and bring me back to His care. This is our assurance of salvation through His death and resurrection. This is what Easter is all about. So, dear reader, you can rest assured that Jesus will never stop loving you or caring about you. Just try to be a nice human, though. The world will appreciate it. 😇

**I have omitted the video today because Father Bill doesn't upload any on Sunday. Also, it seemed today's readings were ones we have done previously, so I picked the second reading. You'll just have to make do with my thoughts! lol 

The Hope of Things to Come

Good Morning, dear reader, and happy Tuesday! The sun is out, which is a good thing! Today's reading in the book of Numbers kind of reminds me of our transition from winter to spring. We slogged our way through snow, ice and bitter cold, holding on to the promise of the coming spring and warmer weather. We tick off the days on the calendar in anticipation of better weather. And, as the months wore on, we saw the subtle signs. Less snow, less cold. A little more sunshine. The honking of the returning geese. The chirpping of the birds in the morning. This gives us hope that it won't be long till we see spring and all its glory! 

I'm sure the Israelites must've felt the same way. They've been travelling for a long time, experiencing war and hunger. They just wanted to get to the place that God had promised them. They wanted to be able to finally relax and enjoy their new lives. The desert was just about the last straw. No edible food, no water, just sand.. lots and lots of sand. They wondered if God really had a plan for them. They've fought battle after battle. Their numbers were dwindling. Would any of them still be left to even settle in the promised land? 

The Israelites began complaining to Moses, they complained to God. God hears their complaints
and becomes angered that they would question His plans for them. To complain about their journey. In an answer to their grievances, He sends snakes to punish them! One by one, the snakes pick off more of our weary warriors. The people realise what their complaining has done. It made it seem like they doubted God's plan. They realise what they had done was wrong. They ask God to forgive them. In His infinite mercy, God provides them with a remedy. He tells Moses to make a bronze serpent and put it on the tip of a spear, "Make a saraph (snake) and mount it on a pole, and if anyone who has been bitten looks at it, he will recover" (Nm 21:8, NAB).

We know that God wouldn't ask us to worship some false idol. So why the snake on the pole? This is actually a metaphore. We have to look in John's Gospel for the explanation, "And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up" (Jn 3:14, NAB). God was telling His people to remember that when they question His motives, when they question why this is happening, they are not putting God first. They are not relying on their faith. They need to trust that God has a plan for them.

We experience the bad so that we can appreciate the good things even more! We need to experience the pain, the uncertainty, to put our faith to the test. We need to put in the hard work first. We have to be reminded that we must trust God's plan for us. It is only through these trials of life that we can appreciate the good things that happen even more! We can look back at how far we have come, the things we have survived, the things that have brought us to this place we are now at. 

Now... on to John's Gospel... 

This is the first time that we are seeing the Jesus alluding to the fact of His eventual death, 'I am going away and you will not look for me, but you will die in your sin. Where I am going you cannot come" (Jn 8:21, NAB). The ones listening speculate that Jesus is referring to His own death, which He was. Except that it would not be self-inflicted. Rather, it was pre-destined by God. He further tells them that if they do not believe in Him, and in His Father, then will we die with the stain of our sins on our souls. Jesus admits that He can say quite a bit about their sins and unholy ways, but He chooses not to, for His words come from God above. He speaks for His Father. And His Father is the only one who can judge. Jesus tells us that the only way we can follow Him is by believing in Him, in the things that His death and ressurection will bring us. Jesus will redeem us and our sins through His own suffering. He will give us the greatest gift of all, eternal life in heaven. 

So, dear reader, this concludes our "lesson" for today. Keep praying, keep believing. Jesus loves us all. And as always... be a nice human. 😇

For a better reflection on today's word, watch Father Bill's video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYuHzSHvJ3o

Here is a version of "Lead Me To The Cross" by Maranatha Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c0-ga-5dRg

First Friday of Lent

 Read: Isaiah 58: 1-9; Matthew 9: 14-15

As we begin today, we are reminded of why it is we fast. We make a sacrifice. Sacrifice. A word we see so much of during the Lenten season. It is because all that we deny ourselves brings us closer to Jesus, who made the ultimate sacrifice. It reminds us of that sacrifice. How small what we deny ourselves compared to what Jesus did. 

With that being said, Friday is also about redemption. We need to be reminded that we are sinners, and for that there must be a way for us to atone for our sins. We need to step out of ourselves and see the bigger picture. We need to walk in our faith. We need to humble ourselves at the foot of the cross. Isaiah 58:9 tells us "Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer, you shall cry for help, and He will say: Here I Am!" It seems a lot to be asking of us. And it is. But that is precisely the point of the whole thing. We are saying that we are imperfect. We are saying that without Jesus to guide us, we become creatures of the flesh. 

When we bring our suffering to Jesus, when we call out for His help, He meets us where we are, and takes up our offering, combining it with His own. And with this we are redeemed and renewed in His love and forgiveness. We are redeemed through His blood that He shed for us. We rejoice in this, and we are reassured of His ever lasting love. 

Be humbled today. Remind yourself that what you are giving up is so much more than the physical. You will walk in His beauty and light. "Then light shall rise for you in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for you like midday" (Isaiah 58:10)