THE MYSTERY OF CHRIST MUST HAPPEN IN YOU

 

We are almost at the time of Holy Week. Now, it is an excellent moment to reflect on what  must happen in our life of faith, prayer and worship.

 

If someone is born into the Church they may go through life thinking that they were given a Christian label (i..e, identity badge) and that makes them a Christian person. Now there is a trap here. The label is often used to give the minimum of effort to living the Gospel of Jesus. 

 

Now, this  must happen in the life of every believer. It is not good enough to just believe in God. “I am a spiritual person and that is sufficient.”

 

The journey of faith (i.e., our life) must take shape like this for each  person.

 

God became flesh, walked this earth and revealed what is in the heart of God. He  suffered greatly at the hands of evil men who eventually sought to destroy him and erase his memory with the shameful death on the cross.

 

But God overpowered all evil in the resurrection. This is the outpouring and self-giving of the very life of God to us. The resurrection is not just a historical event that happened during the night, but it is the ever-present mystery that now must happen in the life of each believer. Jesus must be resurrected in us.

 

This is where Holy Week, 2026, can become such a gift to our life.

 

As best your can, listen and pray over the Scripture readings for the three days of Easter. Use your imagination, your memory to walk side by side with Jesus. Hear the tone of his voice, the pain and the frustration he experienced. Be with Jesus in the garden as he struggled and gradually accepted the horrible fate that probably awaited him next day.

 

Now, as Jesus gave his life in trust and fidelity to God the Father, you must also give your life to God the Father. But this is a prayer that seeks transformation. 

 

This is the direction of our life of faith. What has happened in the life of Jesus must now happen in each one of us. Each believer is meant to become the living face and the hands of Jesus in our own space and time.

 

The mystery of Christ must take flesh in our life.

 

May your living of this Holy Week lead to a stronger transformation in Christ.

May you become the face of Jesus.

THE CROSS IS OUR CROSS

 

On every Friday evening during the season of Lent we have the stations of the cross. It is prayer, meditation and prayer over the suffering and death of Jesus. There are many different ways of leading this devotion but it is always meaningful to the participants.

 

Now in the history of how we practice our faith we have always understood that whenever one human being does evil and damage to another human being, the suffering and cross of Jesus happen all over again. This is not in the Scriptures but it has been a strong belief and practice of the Christiin faithful down through the ages.

 

When we pray the Stations of the Cross we are not only reflecting on the historical details of Christ’s sufferings. We are also joining ourselves to the evil and pain that human beings are inflicting on one another this very week. Praying the Stations of the Cross is always a contemporary event.

 

Bring to your prayer/reflection all the little people who suffer in the war in the Ukraine, in Gaza, in the Sudan and in Iran. Those little people get killed, injured, their houses are destroyed and their fields destroyed with land minds. There is always incredible suffering in all wars. The cross of Jesus is located amidst all the bombing, fires and sufferings.

 

Then there are all the people who suffer violence and neglect in our Canadian families. The cross of Jesus is located in our houses where such suffering exists. During the meditation on the Way of the Cross bring all the domestic violence that happens in Canada.

 

We also include all the violence that innocent people suffer through scamming. The people that get robbed and taken advantage of also suffer much. The cross of Jesus is beaten by scammers who take advantage of the innocent and trusting folks.

 

Pray the ‘Stations of the Cross with strong devotion. Allow the sufferings of Jesus to penetrate your soul, your life and your emotions. But also bring the sin and sufferings of others to your prayer. This is not a new suggestion but a recovering of a very ancient spiritual practice from the wisdom of our foremothers and forefathers.

 

 

 

 

THE SCRIPTURES EXAMINE THE CHURCH

In the early Church the candidates who were working toward baptism would have a special questioning during the Sunday liturgy. The literal translation of this spiritual exercise was the scrutinies.

 

This name sounds somewhat harsh to our English ears but it was a time when the Scriptures were used to examine the Church. Were the people actually living up to their calling? Were the teachings of the Gospels become enfleshed in their lives?

 

It was not a time to see whether the candidates passed for failed the exam. It was a time when the teachings of the Gospels (i.e., the Scriptures) asked the people of the Church to see if they were living up to the teachings of Jesus.

 

We need to bring this practice back to today’s church. It is much too easy for people to staunchly maintain that they are living a good Christian life and are threatened with the challenges that the Gospel / Church teaching might bring.

 

God has created all human beings in his own image. Every human being is of equal worth in the eyes of God. How well are Christian people living this out in the way they respect all people (no matter the differences) as their equals. We know that in some countries certain groups of people are marginalized and not given equal opportunity for education and job opportunities. How are Christians living out our belief in the equal dignity and value of each human being? 

 

The earth and all parts of creation are the first part of God’s revelation. Human beings were given the earth in terms of stewardship. They were to  use and enjoy all parts of creation as a gift. But we know that so much of the earth has been exploited, polluted and laid to waste. Our religious teaching brings us to a new awareness of our responsibilities toward the earth. Does the average Christian work toward preserving and caring for the gifts of the earth? Are we handing on a planet to the upcoming generations that is liveable and will provide nourishment for their survival and their thriving as a human community? Are we listening to the challenges that our Christian faith place before us in our responsibility for the earth?

 

This is only a beginning but it lays out that the Scriptures and the teaching of the Church are active questions for each and every believer. We may experience resistance to such questions but it Is  a very healthy way to live our Christian faith. Think of these questions as physical exercise. The exercise will make us strong. It will keep us healthy.