Doesn’t It Know? (03/27/2024)

This morning as I sat on my porch trying very hard to focus on my morning prayer and conversation with my LORD, the wind whipped about and through my porch, howling fiercely as it whirled about. I segued, not so smoothly, from my prayer to a question: “What’s with the wind, LORD? Doesn’t March know it is supposed to come in like a lion and go out like a lamb? This isn’t lambish, not one bit.”

I managed to get back on track with my prayer, sort of. Because the seque made me think of my own life. “What’s with me?” I asked. “Don’t I know I’m supposed to be following in Christ’s footsteps?” I thought of my recent days and the times I strayed. “That wasn’t Christian,” I admitted, “not even a little bit.”

Isn’t it amazing how the LORD can use anything to speak to us? Or how the LORD can use everything to speak to us? With all humility, I sat on my porch and begged for mercy for those times I have strayed and for guidance and the grace of cooperation for the future. And then I spent time thinking of the teachings and examples of my LORD and Savior. “It’s all about love,” I reminded myself. “If you aren’t loving, you’re on your own path, not Christ’s.”

As I near the Triduum, I remember the price Christ paid for me and for my life. I remember his final discourse with his disciples (John 13-16), especially his example of serving one another (the foot washing in John 13) and his teaching of the vine and the branches (John 15). “Without me, you can do nothing.” How I long to be a branch who bears fruit for Christ.

Today is the final full day of Lent. Tomorrow the Triduum begins with the evening liturgy and the remembrance of the Last Supper and the institution of the Eucharist. As I finished my prayer this morning, with the wind whirling about me, I thanked the LORD for His creative method of jogging my memory and intensifying my desire to be who I claim to be – Christ’s – a Christian. And I prayed for a holy multiplication of my resolve.

As we set out today on our lives here, our journeys in faith, hope, and love, let us take a moment or two to remember how Christ loved us, how Christ gave Himself for us and for our lives, and how He told us that we must pick up our own crosses and follow Him. Let us resolve to be the loving servants He calls us to be because if we aren’t loving, we’re not following Christ.

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.