As we ready ourselves for the celebration of Easter it’s probably a good time to pause, to reflect, and to ask ourselves how are we feeling at this time. What is going on in my heart? What are the things I am truly thankful for? Are there any blocks or struggles in my life that I need to let go of and surrender, so that I can enter these days of prayer unencumbered by useless baggage? What is God saying to me this year? What are the quiet words that he is speaking in the silence of my heart?
Diarmuid O’Murchu, a Missionary of the Sacred Heart, has spoken a great deal of the central message of Jesus’ vocation, especially as it is lived out in the reality of Easter. He talks not in terms of the Kingdom of God, but of the Companionship of Empowerment. To illustrate what he’s saying he points to Palm Sunday. On the one hand we have Jesus, coming from the east, representing in his way vulnerability, empowerment, non-violence and prophetic action. He is living out something entirely new and challenging to the way the people of his time saw their world.
On the other hand Roman soldiers would have entered the city from the west in order to maintain control and keep the Pax Romana. But their peace is born of power, control and domination. These run entirely contrary to Jesus’ mission. He practiced solidarity with, not power over, people. Everything He says and does is drawn from a relationship with the God that is rooted and based in reckless compassion, profound forgiveness and selfless love.
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This is best illustrated in Jesus’ washing of the disciples feet during John’s account of the Last Supper. In taking on the action of a slave Jesus show us how we are meant to live as Catholics today. If our faith is not grounded in self giving love and trust in God then we are missing the point. Jesus exhorts us again and again to love one another. Perhaps this Easter we can humbly kneel at the feet of those we love and especially those we don’t and offer something of that same selfless service that Christ did. And in doing so we may enter more fully into the mystery of Easter.