A friend of mine suggests that we treat the name of Jesus in the Hail Mary like a speed bump: Slow down as you approach it, and speak it with care and attention. “Blessed is the fruit of thy womb … Jesus.” Let’s speak Jesus’s name with tender love at every Hail Mary in the rosary. Indeed, we should never neglect the power of Christ’s name—the only name under heaven by which we may hope in salvation (see Acts 4:12).
— from the book Praying the Rosary Like Never Before: Encounter the Wonder of Heaven and Earth by Edward Sri
And now in this new rebirth of Jesus, Mary could still see her own love in the eyes that looked back at her as he walked upon the earthen floor, much as he had walked the first time he waddled and stumbled into her arms, a little baby boy becoming. She had held Jesus in her arms once he’d walked so determined but hesitantly toward her open arms; she had held him lifeless in her lap when he was taken down from the cross; she would now wait for him to embrace her with the love with which she had embraced him all the days of his life. Even when he left home to embrace the Father’s will that he preach and teach, suffer and die for the people of Israel, she embraced him lovingly in her heart every day as she waited for the next mystery to be revealed. When God works upon us, she thought, then the real working of our lives is in the waiting, waiting to receive what is given us when we wait upon the Lord in all we are and all we have.
— from the book Nourishing Love: A Franciscan Celebration of Mary by Murray Bodo, OFM
Together with Fr. Mike, we examine the name above every other name: Jesus Christ. We explore the importance of this name and our reverence for it. Fr. Mike emphasizes that Christians, unlike those practicing other religions, tend to use the name of our Father in heaven “in vain.” He explains how detrimental and tragic that can be. Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 430-435.
The image of Anthony holding the Divine Infant is a symbol and model for each of us. The image inspires us to go through life clinging to the wonderful mystery of the humble, self-emptying Christ, who accompanies us as a servant of our humanity and of the world’s healing. This is the kind of love that radiates from the Christ child so often pictured in St. Anthony’s arms. Would it not be a good idea for all of us to go through life carrying an imaginary God-child in our arms—and holding him up to the world? The child, however, is not really imaginary or fictitious. Two thousand years ago, thanks to the Virgin Mary’s “Yes,” the Son of God left behind his divine condition and came to dwell as a human child among us. Our faith tells us that he does accompany us each day like a humble servant—like a vulnerable child. Like St. Anthony, we do well lovingly to carry this image with us on our journey through life.
Jesus was not born and raised in a bubble. He had a mother who showed him manners and proper eating habits and how to act and interact with others… He was obedient to her, as he was disobedient by not telling Mary and Joseph that he was staying behind in the Temple when they went up to Jerusalem together. And when, on that occasion, he was questioned and indirectly reprimanded by Mary, Scripture says that Jesus then “went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them. His mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor” (Luke 2:51–52). What depths of meditation are here when we open our minds and imaginations to the mystery of the hidden lives of Mary and her son, Jesus, of how they related to one another, and of how they lived together in Nazareth. What spiritual energy is contained and released for us in the images and scenes we create or receive in the silence of prayerful meditation.
The Wednesday of Holy Week is known to many as “Spy Wednesday”, but it’s also known as the “Day of Aloneness.” The backstory behind this moniker can have a profound impact on the way we live our lives.
There are two people in the Holy Week narrative that experience profound loneliness: Jesus and Judas. There’s an honorable form of aloneness that we feel when we’re doing something we ought to be doing (walking a road that no one else can), but there’s also a sadder form of loneliness that exists when we are doing something we shouldn’t be doing.
Today, Father Mike explains the difference between the aloneness Jesus felt during Holy Week, and what Judas felt.
“Today, at this moment, as I perform the same act as Jesus by washing the feet of you twelve, we are all engaged in the act of brotherhood, and we are all saying: ‘We are diverse, we are different, we have different cultures and religions, but we are brothers and sisters and we want to live in peace.’ This is the act that I carry out with you. Each of us has a history on our shoulders, each of you has a history on your shoulders: so many crosses, so much pain, but also an open heart that wants brotherhood. —Pope Francis
Perhaps no action by Pope Francis has generated as much astonishment in the press (and perhaps in the Church!) as his washing the feet of prisoners—men, women, Christian, Muslim. A ritual that has at times become an honor for the elite once again returns to what Jesus intended: “As I have done, so you must do.” In his preaching on Holy Thursday, Pope Francis draws attention to the difference between the acts of Judas and Jesus at the Last Supper. The Holy Thursday liturgy is marked by the ritual gesture of the washing of the feet. We think of it as the institution of the Eucharist, and it is that as well. But the central action of service reminds us that our communion is more than a meal, more than nourishment for our bodies and souls. It’s the act of taking on the mission, the ministry, the very body of Christ. And it is a challenge to us to remain in communion not only with one another, but with all people of the world. Our unity is far from perfect, but today’s liturgy reminds us that if we are not always working toward that unity, then, like Judas, we are finding excuses to betray Christ’s ideals.
Today we enter into the holiest days of our Church year. We celebrate the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus, the act that changed the very nature of human reality. Take some time to explore the way other religions similarly call their people to do loving acts of service for others. The more we know about those whose faith differs from ours, the more we will discover the common bonds that unite us.
“When an evil thought is presented to the mind, we must immediately endeavor to turn our thoughts to God, or to something which is indifferent. But the first rule is, instantly to invoke the names of Jesus and Mary and to continue to invoke them until the temptation ceases. He who trusts in himself is lost. He who trusts in God can do all things.” — St. Alphonsus Liguori
