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Holy Week is upon us. When I was a kid, I knew Holy Week to be the important week where we had to go to church three or four days in a row. As Catholics we are not just asked to go to church multiple days, we are called to fully participate in the liturgies and reflect on the events leading to Jesus’ death and resurrection. So much happened in such a short amount of time. Everything that happened from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday changed the world. Has it changed your world? Do we let the passion, death and resurrection of Christ change and transform our lives?
To sum it up and put it simply, Holy Week is about love. There is absolutely nothing Jesus went through during this time that was not because of His immense love for us. From His agony in the garden, to his scourging, and everything in between, it was all for you and for me. How could we look at the cross and not know the depths of his love? How could we see the nails in his hands and feet, the wounds in his side, and the crown of thorns on his head and not choose to love him in return. How could we look at the crucified Christ, arms stretched wide open, love poured out and say, “It’s not enough.” Putting it into words, it sounds crazy. Yet, how many times have we said this with our thoughts and actions? How many times have we said, “Jesus, what you did for me isn’t enough”? We so often search the world, grasping for different things that the world says will satisfy us. Maybe it’s success, more money, a bigger house, and the list goes on. We tell ourselves that it is when we get certain things that we will have enough. In our desire for empty things, it might be easy for us to think that Jesus’ love is nice, but it’s just not enough. We need something else. In these moments, look back to the cross. During this Holy Week, let Jesus’ passion, death, and resurrection transform you. Reflect on the significance of everything that happened and the impact it has on your daily life. Walk with Jesus through his journey to the cross. Keep watch with Him. Let this week be a reminder of how to pray more deeply, follow the will of the Father more closely, and ultimately, how to love more intensely. When we experience the love Christ offered to us on the cross, we will be able to share the joy and hope that comes from His resurrection.
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I remember the first time I heard the concept of sharing pronouns. I was in college when I first heard people discussing this. It was at this point in time that I realized just how lost and confused our society was. Now, it is on a regular basis that I see lists of pronouns in people’s email signatures and social media bios. It is something people do because they want to be seen as tolerant and affirming of this practice. Our culture is under the impression that people can pick “preferred pronouns.” As time goes on, the truth continues to be under attack. When people reject who they are as a male or female, they reject God and the beauty of who He created them to be.
Our world is trying to erase gender and say that it does not matter. However, it does matter, a lot. Men and women are different. We have different traits, abilities, personalities, and strengths. Both men and women reflect God and His love in different ways. We each have unique gifts that need to be valued. Although men and women were created different in many ways, they complement one another. God’s creation and plans for humanity are perfect and when people attempt to mix things up, it does not go well. God’s plans go from beautiful to broken. Masculinity and femininity are beautiful gifts from God. Many fail to see and understand this. For quite some time now, there has been a loud and overwhelming movement and voice in our culture that says masculinity is toxic. This could not be further from the truth. The issue at hand is actually the lack of authentic masculinity in our society. Men are called to imitate Jesus Christ, the greatest example of masculinity there is. He loved others deeply and made sacrifices daily. He respected all, recognizing their dignity, and protected others, especially women, at all costs. He was not afraid to be vulnerable, sharing His emotions openly. When men rise up and strive to live the way God created them to, they offer the rest of the world gifts that are different from women. The modern feminist movement has become dangerous and destructive. Those who claim to be for “women’s rights” stand for everything that is contrary to women. For a movement that claims to support and be for women, they promote the opposite. They belittle and condemn men while, at the same time, saying they want to be exactly like them, erasing any differences that exist. With the modern feminist movement, we have seen the value and true gift of femininity being erased with things such as contraception, abortion, vulgarity, and tantrums. These things are about as anti-women as you can get. Mary is the perfect model of authentic femininity, who women are called to imitate. Last summer, I read a book called The Anti-Mary Exposed: Rescuing the Culture from Toxic Femininity by Carrie Gress. It was a well-written book that really dives into femininity on a deep level. In it, Gress says, “Mary knew the truth about herself: that everything she had, everything she was, and everything she would ever do was because of the gifts offered to her by her Father, her Creator. She not only knew the truth about herself—which has made her the humblest woman to ever live—but she also knew the truth about God, who he is, especially as Father and Creator. She surrendered every piece of herself to God the Father as a beloved daughter.” When women strive to walk in the footsteps of Mary, they offer the world gifts that are different from men. We live in a time when our society says gender is “fluid.” It is a time when people believe one can choose whether to be male or female based on how they feel, reducing gender to a surgery and a clothing change. As Christians, we need to recognize the dignity of every single person, including those who are struggling with who they are. We need to continue to share the love of God and help others know that the way they were created is not a mistake. “God created mankind in his image; in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:27) It is this simple truth that we must not tire of speaking of with love. I’ve worked at a dining and banquet hall for the past 10 years. One thing I’ve seen time and time again is just how impatient some people can be. Some groups who come in on Sundays for the family style chicken dinner seem to never be satisfied. As soon as one platter of chicken is set down, they are looking for the next refill, asking for it right away, as if they are the only table in the dining room. They have an abundance of food yet they want more and they want it immediately. I feel like this is how it can be in our faith sometimes. We have an abundance of blessings in our lives yet we are always looking for more and asking God for answers about what is to come. God is patient with us, why can’t we be patient with Him?
We live in a culture of instant gratification. People want things and they want them now. Our desires to experience certain things immediately and without delay are often fulfilled. In our advanced and fast-paced world, it is easy to get many of the things we desire right away. When it comes to our faith, it is not quite the same. God’s timing is different from our timing. He answers us in His own ways and in His own time. How much time do we spend being too focused on the future, asking God to tell us what the next month, year, or five years will hold? We want to know when He is going to give us a new job, a relationship with a certain person, or healing from a sickness. It is good to have desires, especially if they can be used for God’s glory and praise. However, we need to trust in His perfect timing more than we believe we are lacking in something. “If only I had this or was better at that” we tell ourselves. God does not withhold good things from us. We have all that we need in each moment we are in. Some people are more patient than others. It is a fruit we can ask for more of. Wherever we are at, there is always room to grow. There is always space to trust more in God’s timing and appreciate the blessings we have in this present moment. When waiting for answers in prayer and waiting for the next big thing in life, may we all remember that just to know that God hears us and loves us is enough. A few days ago, I was thinking about how people define themselves. Oftentimes, it seems like we let our jobs and what we do define us. Other times we think our failures and weaknesses say who we are. Do we find our identities in our job titles or in God? Do we allow what we do (or don’t do) to tell us who we are or do we ask God to reveal these truths to us?
Apart from God, we cannot really know who we are. He reveals the truth to us and the truth sets us free. We cannot know ourselves except through God and we cannot know God except through prayer. Prayer gives us a deeper knowledge of God and therefore, ourselves. Our truest identity is found in how we are seen by our heavenly Father. We only really know ourselves in the light of God. If we learn about ourselves through school, work, our life experiences, and the people around us, that is good. However, we are missing something if we do not include God. The first part of knowing ourselves deals with our sin. When we acknowledge God, there is no room for lies, excuses, or masks. God shows us our sin while revealing his forgiveness and mercy. We can only be healed and live fully as children of God through recognizing our sin and through God’s forgiveness. God loves us as we are, with a completely unconditional love, and it is this love that gives us our deepest identity. From there, we can accept his love and come to know who we really are. Looking past our sin, the love God has for us personally as our creator and father is the most pure part of ourselves. The whole basis for our identity is the fact that each of us is a child of God. We don’t have to search for who we are or try to pick up a bunch of pieces to form our identities. It is sitting right in front of us, waiting to be accepted and embraced. Will you embrace your identity as a child of God and accept who you are? We have value because we were created in the image and likeness of God. This alone is the most important truth about ourselves. As St. John Paul II once said, “We are not the sum of our weaknesses and failures; we are the sum of the Father’s love for us and our real capacity to become the image of His Son.” The love of God is what defines your life and gives you your identity. My hope is that you would be reminded of who you are and allow God to reveal this truth to you. |
AuthorStriving to share hope, joy, God's love, and all of the good stuff, one blog post at a time. Categories |
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