PASSION!!!!!

When you see the word Passion... the visions that our society has placed in our minds is usually pretty steamy and romance novels come to mind... kind of warped and sickeningly misled is the idea that the thought of passion is tied into sex!  The True picture of Passion is the one we focus on today - Jesus, wounded and suffering and dying on the Cross - God, without sin of any kind, submitting to such a horrific death in order to defeat death in us!  Some romance novels might make it seem like the man or woman would be willing to sacrifice themselves like this for the love of their lives, but as the scripture says in Romans 5: 6-11 "While we were still weak, at the right moment, Christ died for ungodly people. ⁷ It isn’t often that someone will die for a righteous person, though maybe someone might dare to die for a good person. ⁸ But God shows his love for us, because while we were still sinners Christ died for us. ⁹ So, now that we have been made righteous by his blood, we can be even more certain that we will be saved from God’s wrath through him. "  Now that is PASSION in the True sense of the word!  All the drama and horror that he endured - watch the Passion of the Christ by Mel Gibson to get the picture.  I will share once again the Utube video with amazing music along with some of the movie to be a reminder of how Passionately he LOVED us onto death - death on the cross! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrPAZbD6fG0&feature=youtube_gdata_player 

Last night, after we had made some Easter butterflies to go on our Easter tree, Mary went out to meet two day old JOY for the first time - laying in the warm sunshine of the late afternoon.  Today her name seems so out of place as we are emmersed in his suffering and dying - the Passion!  But without the sacrifice of the spotless Lamb of God... there would be no JOY in this world!  We know that after the death comes the rising, but it is very good to spend this sad and hard day with Christ - at the foot of the Cross with his Mother, after she had watched him stagger down the Way of the Cross!  I just took the time to watch the link to We are the Reason - take the time to recall what this Good Friday is all about!  The Lamb of God was slaughtered!  Did that word strike you last night in the reading about the first Passover?  "The Lamb shall be a year-old male and without blemish... It shall be slaughtered during the evening twilight..."  Exodus 12: 1-8, 11-14  How would passion be if you knew that being slaugthered was part of the True LOVE? 

My Jesus, my deepest place is so traumatized by the reality of what you suffered for me!  I am so unworthy and "I am a worm and no man."  In our weakness is when we realize that without you we are nothing and we come to you!  Thank you for that reminder on this day of YOUR PASSION!  Thank you for that MOST Cherished Cross in our lives - it truly brings us to the JOY of the Truth in LIFE and LOVE!  We are filled with unworthy gratitude for giving us eternal LIFE and a small piece of heaven here on earth... as we share in a community of Faith in our Church this Tridium!  Last night the church was filled with so many there to watch you institute the Eucharist and the Priesthood - we marveled at the blessings we have in our priests... carrying on LIFE in this world!  Jesus, we love you and thank you with our small words and actions this day.  We are reminded by ST Therese of the Child Jesus... "Do small things with great love."  May we keep that in our hearts, minds and spirits this day and forward.  Jesus, we trust in you.  Amen and Halleluia

Bless-bless, Barb

"You know well enough that Our Lord does not look so much at the greatness of our actions, nor even at their difficulty, but at the love at which we do them."

St Therese

Little "T" - Therese with her birthday banner from her precious, Aunt Nancy!