Guilty!

I woke as into a dream and found myself standing amid all of humanity, every person who had ever lived. We were in what appeared to be a courtroom. At the head of the room was the judge's bench raised high above the crowd. The son of man appeared before the bench shackled in chains. The devil entered the courtroom and took his place in the judgement seat. He sneered at the son of man who stood before him.

“You have volunteered to bear the punishment for the sins of all the people of the world.” The devil barked. “I demand them to plead for the crimes committed.”

“On the charge that you have failed to love God with your whole heart, how do you plead?”

“Guilty!” yelled all of humanity in one voice that rocked the heavens.

“On the charge that you have taken this man’s name in vain…”

“Guilty!”

“On keeping the sabbath day holy…..”

“Murder…..”

“Guilty!”

“Hatred….”

“Guilty!!!!!”

One by one the devil listed out every sin of mankind. One by one humanity cried out their guilt. When every sin had been listed the devil asked, “Does anyone wish to take this man’s place?”

The silence that followed was deafening.

“Does anyone wish to join him in facing the just punishment for these crimes?”

Again, not even a whisper was heard.

“Then he alone will bear the punishment due.” The devil was ecstatic. His joy could not be contained. “The punishment is death. How do you wish this punishment be carried out?”

“Crucify him! Crucify him! Crucify him!”

“Let it be done according to your will.” The devil slammed the gavel down and the trial was finished.

Jesus died for our sins. He bore the punishment for all of humanity. He did so out of love for us.

He did so because we demanded it from him.

Room or Tomb

The Resurrection

“But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in gleaming clothing; and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why are you seeking the living One among the dead? He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise from the dead.” And they remembered His words, and returned from the tomb and reported all these things to the eleven, and to all the rest. Now these women were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James; also the other women with them were telling these things to the apostles. But these words appeared to them as nonsense, and they would not believe the women. Nevertheless, Peter got up and ran to the tomb; and when he stooped and looked in, he *saw the linen wrappings only; and he went away to his home, marveling at what had happened.”

Luke 24: 1-12

The accounts of the resurrection in the various gospels have Jesus appearing to many people when he rose. Some say that Mary Magdalen was the first to see the risen Lord. He appeared to the Eleven, to five-hundred of the brethren, and to two disciples on the road to Emmaus. The one person that scripture never says Jesus appeared to was his mother, Mary. Some naturally believe she would have been the first person he would have appeared to. Others use it as a jab at the Holy Mother to say that she wasn’t really that important in the grand scheme of things. There is much speculation as to why it is not written. I will offer mine. This is just a personal belief, not one taught by the Church, but I don’t believe it goes against any Church teaching or tradition. This is just food for thought and nothing more. Take it with a grain of salt.

Through the divine mercy of God, Mary was conceived without the stain original of sin, immaculate in body, soul, and spirit. The Church teaches that this freed her from the desire to sin and is how she remained sinless through her entire life. Having an immaculate heart gives Mary the capacity to love as God loves; to love sacrificially and without limit. It is through this capacity to love that Love himself became incarnate in the person of Jesus. Through the immaculate heart of Mary came the Sacred Heart of Jesus and through the Sacred Heart of Jesus came the immaculate heart of Mary.

Mary’s immaculate heart is what enabled her to say yes to the offer to be the mother of God. She gave no thought to herself or what saying yes to that offer would mean. She only wished to do the will of the Father. When she presented Jesus in the temple, she was told by Simeon that a sword would pierce her heart. The heart of every parent is their children and in hearing Simeon’s prophecy I am sure Mary pondered what his words would mean for the baby she held in her arms.

Twelve years later, Jesus would be lost for three days and then found in the temple. Losing a child is every parents’ worst nightmare. O the joy that must have filled Mary’s heart the moment she saw her son in the temple sitting among the teachers. Jesus returned home with her and she treasured all that was said about him in her heart. Scripture does not mention Jesus and Mary being separated like that again until his crucifixion. Everywhere Jesus was, there was Mary.

Mary had perfect faith in the promise of God. Like Abraham with Isaac, Mary believed that if her son were offered as a sacrifice, God would raise him back up. It is my speculation that Mary was not with the women who went to the tomb on Sunday morning because she was the only one who was there when her son was resurrected from the dead. She was the first person he saw when he came out of the tomb. She was the first person to hold him when he came back to this world, just as she was the first person to hold him when he first came into this world, just as she was the last one to hold his lifeless body after his death. The immaculate heart that was pierced by a sword was the first one healed by the risen Christ. Mary was there because she had perfect faith in her son’s promise.

Mary is also not listed as being in the upper room where the Disciples hid for fear of Jewish persecution. She was not there offering support or trying to ease the guilt of betrayal they were feeling. She was not there being comforted by them for the loss of her son. I believe that instead of cowering in the upper room, she waited in joyful anticipation for the promise to be fulfilled.

This is what makes Mary is the greatest example for the Church and for each of us. Mary is the pinnacle of God’s creation and the greatest member of our race. She is what God wants us to become. She shows us what we are capable of achieving. It is true that Mary received special graces that we have yet to receive, but instead of those graces we were given the Blessed Mother to model our lives on.

Not only can we do these things, but these are what we are called to do as Christians. In giving Mary to us when he was on the cross, Jesus made Mary our mother too. From her immaculate heart we receive unconditional and sacrificial love as she draws all her children closer to her son. And with a mother’s love she intercedes on our behalf with her son who intercedes for us with the Father.

In as much as a father is the head of a family, a mother is its heart. A father guides and leads. A mother nurtures and comforts. The immaculate heart of Mary is the immaculate heart of the Church and through it we learn to give a mother’s care to those in the most need. Being able to see others through the eyes of a mother, especially through the eyes of the mother who held the baby Jesus tight to her bosom, enables us to live fully Jesus’ command to love one another as he has loved us.

Where does your faith place you? Do you cower in the upper room with the Disciples in fear of what the world will do to you or do you stand with Mary at the tomb joyfully anticipating the return of the Lord?

My heart is full because the tomb was empty.

Choices

If the essence of God could be captured in one thought, it would be that of sacrificial love. God has power. God has knowledge. God is the source of all truth and all holiness. God is sacrificial love. For love to exist there has to be a choice. If I were forced to love you, I could not love you.

The angels were created out of love, but for the purpose of service. They were created with full knowledge of who God is. They did not have the choice to love or not love God. They were given the choice to serve God or serve themselves.

God went a different route when he created man. Man was created with no knowledge of who God is. God then courts us, revealing himself to us, so that we come to know and love him. God woos his beloved in the hope that we may come to love him as he loves us. The choice is always ours to make.

During the season of Lent and throughout holy week we will be given a number choices to make. Each choice is intended to draw us ever closer to God. Many of these choices will go seemingly unnoticed by us. In the end, the choices we make during this time will determine where we will spend eternity.

It all begins with the feeding of the 5000. Jesus miraculously multiplies the loaves and the fish to feed a multitude of people. This was done as a preconfiguration of the Sacrament of the Eucharist he would shortly institute. Jesus went off with the Twelve to rest and pray. The people followed because they longed for more.

This begins the bread of life discourse where Jesus tells us that his body is true food and his blood true drink and if we do not eat his flesh and drink his blood that we have no life within us. Jesus had just given them a preview on how he intended to do this, but they could not understand. Unable to accept his teaching, the people left him in mass numbers.

Jesus was heralded as a king as he entered into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. The people looked for him to fulfill the messianic prophecy to return and free Israel from the occupying Romans. Many became disillusioned and disappointed when he didn’t fulfill this prophecy in the way they expected. Their hearts grew cold as even more turned from him.

Then came the night in the garden when Jesus was betrayed with a kiss by one of his closest friends. When the temple guards seized him the rest of his inner circle fled, leaving him alone and rejected. His closest friend, Peter, publicly denied ever knowing him. Pilate presented Jeus to the people, giving them the opportunity to have him released. The people chose Bar Abbas instead. Jesus was finally crucified along side two other criminals, one to his left and one to his right.

The Triduum is the most powerful three days in all of human history. It starts with a simple Passover meal. Jesus teaches the Twelve how to serve each other sacrificially by washing their feet. He establishes the priesthood and institutes the Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist. He fulfills what he began with the multiplication of the loaves and the fish, and revealed to his disciples how he intended to feed us with his body and blood throughout all time. We are given the choice to eat of the flesh of the son of man each time we attend a Catholic Mass. We can take him at his word, or we can walk away from him because this teaching is too difficult for us to accept.

As we stand amid the crowd when Pilate offers the choice on who to release, we get the choice to make Jesus the Lord of our lives or if we want the world to be lord over us. Do we accept Jesus into our hearts or do we demand Bar Abbas with the rest of the crowd?

On Good Friday we are presented with the most important decision we will ever have to make. In a rock quarry just outside of the city gate, Jesus was hung upon a cross. He took upon himself the punishment for the sins of all humanity and offered up for us greatest of all sacrifices. On his right and his left were two men who were also being executed for their crimes. The good thief turned towards Jesus and sought forgiveness. The other thief turned from Jesus, mocking him.

On the cross of Christ hung the salvation and redemption of the world. Through this sacrifice the gates of heaven were opened and the offer of eternal life with God in heaven was given. This is an offer extended to us through sacrificial love and because it is an offering of love it comes with a choice.

The cross of the good thief represents God’s offer of mercy. To die upon that cross means to have a turning of the heart back towards God. One must be truly sorry for the sins they have committed. One needs to be contrite and ask for God’s forgiveness. That forgiveness depends on our willingness to forgive each other. Lord, forgive us our sins as we forgive those who have sinned against us. If we want 100% of God’s mercy, we have to be willing to give 100% of our mercy.

The cross of the other thief represents the Justice of God. If we choose not to turn to the Lord with a contrite heart and choose love of self over love of God, we will receive God’s justice for what we have done in our lives. We will be given that for which we deserve. Hell is our final destination.

We get to choose which cross we get to die upon. Our choice becomes binding at our deaths. We will be asked one question when we are called to stand before our Lord at the end of our days.

“Do you love me?”

More important than our answer to that question will be the cross that we bear when asked it. Jesus said to deny ourselves, pick up our crosses, and follow him. We will be found carrying the cross of mercy for the love of God or will we be found being the cross of love of self and worldly things.

That is a choice only you can make.