This Time (03/28/2024)

I’ve had a lot of Lents in my lifetime; this time around marks my 73rd. Every year I’m given the opportunity to turn things around through prayer, self-denial, and acts of charity and service. Today is Holy Thursday; we remember and celebrate both Jesus’ institution of the Eucharist and his modeling for us servanthood through the foot washing. Tomorrow, we will contemplate Jesus’ passion and death. He sacrificed everything for us, for me. How have I used that gift this time?

I’ve mentioned a couple times that I was reading Matthew Kelly’s book Rediscover Jesus. It is a 40-chapter book, appropriate for a 40-day journey. He makes an interesting assertion in chapter 39. He states, “If Christians behaved like Christians, the world would be a very different place.” As I read that sentence, multiple times, I felt it sink in down to the marrow of my bones. I call myself a Christian, but would another see me as such? Why or why not? What about my character and my behavior would make others believe that I believe in Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior?

One cannot read the Gospels nor the Letters without understanding to their very core that love is the motive, love is the qualifier, love is the necessary component, love changes everything and everyone. I’m not talking about the kind of love that come in a Hallmark card or that florist promise on Valentine’s day; I’m talking about the kind of love that forgives, the kind of love that makes sacrifices, the kind of love that reaches out to others, especially the most vulnerable. I’m thinking of the kind of love that Jesus felt for you and me when He gave us His body and His blood so that we might have life; I’m thinking of the love for you and me that Jesus felt as He hung upon the cross that day on Calvary.

If I am truly one of Christ’s, if I am truly a Christian, how is love for the LORD and for my sisters and brothers manifested day to day in my life?

My mind returns to my Lenten journey. I have offered a plethora of prayers. I have denied myself things I look forward to and enjoy. I have sought to serve others through giving of myself, my time, my talents, and my treasures. Has it brought me closer to Christ? I believe it has. Could I come even closer? Yes.

I believe my sorrow will be deeper this Good Friday than it has ever been. I believe my joy on Easter morning will be higher than it has ever been. But this day, this time, I am praying that a new me steps into my future. I am praying this time that I intentionally practice what I have learned and who I have become daily realizing it wasn’t just for 40 days, it was meant to be for the rest of my life. This time, I pray to Jesus my Savior, that I will be the light He told me I should be, that I will be the salt He called me to be, that I will be a sign for others that Jesus is, that Jesus lives, that love matters always.

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.