I had to get my cholesterol checked a couple months ago, and I knew it was not going to go well. First of all, I do not do well when I get blood taken (usually I get light headed and dizzy). Second of all, I had to fast from midnight until after the test, and I always have difficulty with fasting (again, light headed and dizzy). Put those two things together and I was sure it was going to be unpleasant. I am sure you all know what happened: I almost passed out after they finished taking blood. I knew what to expect, but I also knew I needed to do it, so I went anyways (although I did try to come up with a few dozen excuses not to go!).
Have you ever had something unpleasant that you wanted to get out of, but went ahead with it because there was something powerful pushing you in that direction? When Jesus entered into Jerusalem on that first "Palm Sunday" He knew exactly what it was going to lead to: His crucifixion. Yet, He went through it anyway. I cannot imagine what it would have been like for Him to ride on the back of that donkey and know that those shouts of praise were going to turn into shouts of "crucify Him" in just a few days.
We are told by St. Paul in the second reading for today that Jesus willingly accepted what He had to suffer. He did not use His divine power to free Himself, but,
. . . emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.What He endured was far worse than my petty little dizziness at my blood test, and Christ did it not just for Himself, but for every one of us. You, me, and anyone who obeys Him.
We can experience similar things in our lives. People may like us one day, and then turn against us the next day. This is a reminder that nothing in this world really is secure apart from God Himself. When He entered into Jerusalem to the praises of the multitude, there was no pride in Him; He was perfectly aware of the weaknesses of men, and knew that even His own disciples would fail Him. Because this world is fallen, everything in this world is weak, and if we place all our hopes in the things of this world, or even the people of this world, they will fail us as well. It is only our precious Lord Who will never fail us.
In this time of plague, what are you spending most of your time thinking about? Is it the weak things of this world -- those things that can fail us? If so, you are probably experiencing some depression right now. Jesus knows exactly how weak this world is, and He wants us to look to Him for our true strength, but if we focus on weak things, then we begin to doubt that He can really help us. This is the very opposite of what He went to the cross for: He wanted to deliver us from these weak things, and bring us into His presence for all eternity.
Instead of focusing on things like: the empty shelves at the store, the unemployment rate going up, or the continual stream of new rules about how to deal with this, we need to remind ourselves (every day) how amazing it is to focus particularly on the unlimited love of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! He did not falter when it came time for Him to endure a horrible death. He did it, not because it was just the right thing to do; He did it because He had such great love for you and me. He did it because He knew that it would lead to many souls being able to spend eternity with Him -- which is something He truly loves!
When we think about what Jesus did for us, we all need to realize that we ourselves are just like the rest of those who failed Him. We might praise Him joyfully one day, and then the next day we choose a horrible sin; with no regard for how it hurts Him. Only when we realize and admit our failings and sins can we find true deliverance. Jesus knew we were all sinners, that was the point of the cross: to save sinners. This is why we must return to Him every time we fail Him; we go back and ask His forgiveness in Confession, and He always joyfully grants it. He knew what each of us would do, and He still went to the cross. He was willing to do all that because of His great love for us. Let us each realize and accept that great love so that we can find His grace and forgiveness. He willingly chose to undergo a painful passion and death for us, let us each willingly accept it and rejoice in it; both now and forevermore. ✠
