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Showing posts with the label Lenten tears

Yoked to Jesus

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“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” †  Mathew 11: 28-30  What is the labour and burden that Jesus is asking me to deal with? Perhaps I have to let go of the compulsive burden (or is it a sort of entitlement?) that my spouse and children should choose a spiritual path that I know to be right. Jesus accompanied Judas Iscariot to the very end but never deprived him of his freedom to choose his own destiny. Jesus on the other hand, uninterrupted by Judas's choice to reject him, continues to accomplish his mission. He does become a victim of Judas's betrayal but he seldom takes on the victim's identity. In divine wisdom, Jesus chooses to die in our place (and that of Judas) in a redeeming act of love. Rather than being compelled to fix those whom God has entrusted to my headship by m

Lenten tears

When we come to face with the brutal mutilation Jesus was subjected to and the completely inhuman and unjust proceedings that ended up in crucifixion, we often are moved to tears. These tears are that of sympathy and a reaction to the magnitude of infliction Jesus underwent. Yet, sadly, we fail to recognize “His love for you and me” that prompted Jesus to carry though this extreme cruelty and complete this mission to save us. Jesus said in Mathew 10: 8 “ Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell”. Here Jesus is elevating our thoughts to a higher realm surpassing body and mind. Jesus does not desire our sympathy. He said looking at the women of Jerusalem, who wept bitterly, as their eyes met with the disfigured Jesus who was dragging his steps to the peak of Calvary "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children”.   Even in the thick of s