This weeping Christ picture is one that has accompanied my two youngest daughters on their faith journies... I appologize as this is a picture of a picture, so the tears running down his ravaged face are not as clear as they are when you can gaze at it in reality. They both were deeply touched by this thought of Christ's sacrifice for us and his deep LOVE even to the worst kind of death imagineable... the tears are not those of feeling sorry for himself... which probably half of the river of tears I have shed in my lifetime has been for that reason... NO, His tears are because of all those times that we turn away from His love and mercy and embrace sin, or are too involved in life to notice Him there wanting to help us, and care for us, and defend us in the battle against evil!
I found this also in Susan's room after she left to join the Community of the Lamb in Sept of '08... the words are so powerful and deep and I wept for the thought that this is the root of LOVE! These were tears from the river of LIFE that runs through me thanks to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in my soul! 
This amazing love note was also left behind in her room - "I belong to my love, and his desire is for me." Song of songs 7: 11...a taste of the call of Christ to his beloved Bride - Susan/little sister Hallel! I wept at the foot of the Cross with Mary! I see that the tears of Mary were not ones of pity, but tears from the sheer magnitude of it all! So hugely moving to the point of deep gutteral TEARS! Too overwhelming - too much!
The crucifix with Christ's dead body on it is a powerful centerpiece of our home and our lives! The sacrificial LAMB, who took away all of our sins and gave us the LIFE and LOVE we need to go forth carrying our own "Most Cherished Cross" and follow Him into Eternal LIFE! 
We are in the midst of getting a package ready to send to France in the next few days, so that Hallel can know that we are missing her and thinking about her and praying for her and knowing that she is praying for us! How we know His mercy in our lives due to her prayers and the prayers of the community! We are uplifted in all things! Our cup overflows! 
The old rugged cross that was out in the silver maple tree at the beginning of the stations of the cross that Maria made and put in our grove after she came home from the Poor Clare Monastery - she had lived with them for 5 months considering religious life. She had found such powerful direction and mercy and guidance as she spent time doing the stations that are in their enclosure, and now we are blessed with a way of the cross in our grove... A beautiful reminder of the Cross and its purpose in her spiritual journey and how it enters into all of our lives as we follow the path that leads to LIFE!
The leaves are openning up on the Easter tree reminding us of the life that comes after the death of winter! How can trees and branches that are frozen solid come forth with new life year and year without fail? The mystery of life is a joy and fills us with Hope and Love for the beauty and blessing of new Life! The butterfly that represents Easter 2011 is called Life/Love and that is a beautiful thought with our new grandchild soon to arrive and with Joseph finding his place in serving our country in the , and with John and his healing and going forth down the path laid out to him by the Lord- his Savior and source of life and love! Each year holds the many fingerprints of God's hand on our lives and we rejoice to "see" how He loves us!
Maria in the monastery - 2004- now she is an 's wife and has two small children! Jesus, we are filled with wonder as we see how you touch our lives with the glorious cross and all that it allows us to feel and share... your mercy flows over us! We are allowed to "go deep" with the aid of the cross and how it allows us to get past the surface and feel the pain and suffering of those in our lives and our world! "It has never bothered me to speak about the hard things in my life." Nancy shared this yesterday, and it was a reminder that we have shared much pain and realize now that it has allowed us to feel a more profound love and concern one for the other in our domestic church - our family! We ask that we continue to know and follow you into life and all that it holds for us, so that we may come to eternal life with you forever! Jesus, we trust in you! Amen and Halleluia! 
Bless-bless, Barb"Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spreads out the earth with its crops, Who gives breath to its people and spirit to those who walk on it: I, the Lord, have called you for the victory of justice, I have grasped you by the hand; I formed you, and set up as a covenant of the people, a light for the nations, To open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness." Isaiah 42: 1-7
The amazing Gospel today is from John12, where Mary, the sister of Lazarus annoints Jesus's feet with ointment and wipes it with her hair... Our wise and insightful Pope Benedict shared this...
"There is only one annointing that it strong enough to meet death and that is the annointing of the Holy Spirit, the love of God. There is, then, something that is both exemplary and lasting in Mary's annointing of Jesus at Bethany. It was above all a concern to keep Christ alive in this world and to oppose the powers that aimed at to silence and kill him. It was an act of faith and love. Every such act has the same affect."
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