Judas or Peter

Many of us are familiar with the Passion of Christ, in fact, I'm sure you've been told to choose a character and walk through the Passion in the eyes of that character.  I challenged my teens to do that this year, to choose a character and reflect on how they were feeling, what they were doing, what you would've done differently, how could you relate to them?  I took my own advice, which I unfortunately don't do enough, and chose a character.  I've done this before and I've chosen Mary Magdalene because I'm a sinful woman and thought I would have the most in common with her.  This year I thought it would be interesting to pick a different character in the Passion, as I believe that we can find similarities in each within ourselves.

This year I chose Judas.  It was a couple weeks ago when we were talking about this and I'm not sure why Judas was the one I chose, but I knew I felt as if God was pointing me towards him.  A couple nights ago I was watching the Passion Live on Fox (a modern day depiction of the Passion of Christ) and Judas' part came up, he sang a song called Demons.

That's when I saw it in Daughtry's eyes; despair, doubt, darkness.  He sang about it, and for the first time in a while I realized the darkness still in my heart.  We all have darkness within us, and we will until we pass from this earth, but it's what we do with that darkness that matters.  We have a choice, we always have a choice. Judas chose to betray Christ, every time we sin we choose to betray Christ.  Darkness has the ability to swallow us, except it doesn't happen all at once, but usually little by little.  Judas traveled with Christ for 3 years, he had light surrounding him, yet he couldn't fathom asking for help, he couldn't humble himself to know that in his brokenness Christ is working.  

If you're anything like me, I often got into spats of trouble.  When I did I remember trying to figure a way out of it (or to correct my wrongs) before the adults found out.  The older I got the harder it became to get myself out of trouble.  As I ponder Judas' feelings and reflections, I can sense the overwhelming feeling of being alone, of isolation; the thought that I'm just too far, I've done too much, or I can't forgive myself how could anyone forgive me. "All God needs to forgive you in the invitation, and we can extend it at any time" (Mark Hart).

You see it is not God who condemns us, it is ourselves; we have to learn to let go.  Christ tells us to love as he loves, this begins with loving ourselves.  We can't give what we don't have, and we can't forgive others if we don't learn to first forgive ourselves; to acknowledge our shortcomings, to acknowledge our weaknesses, and to realize that we can't do life on our own, and we don't have to!  This Easter I pray you realize the love Christ has for you, whether Gentile or Jew, Catholic or non believer, Judas or Peter, Christ didn't just die for those who believe in Him, he DIED for all!  The difference between Judas' betrayal and Peter's denial is that Peter recognized that he needed a Savior, may all of us Judas' realize we need a savior! May God's love and peace reign in your heart, may you surrender everything knowing that he will always give you so much more! 

                        

--Live Love--

I love you this much

I ran across this picture this morning as I scrolled through my news feed; finally someone had articulated that which I could not.  How do you articulate God's love to those around you, to the most important people in your life, or to the least?  I have this incredible responsibility of passing the Catholic faith onto hundreds of youth and their families, but how do you pass on something so vast, yet so simple?  Theodore Roosevelt once said "People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care." Everyone has an innate desire to be known and to be loved, a God-shaped hole inside of them.  

We are called to love people exactly how they are; however, I think we fall short of love.  We like people how they are (or not), we accept people how they are (even if it's less then their best), we tolerate people (sometimes), but when are we loving them?  We are called to love people exactly how they are, but too much to let them stay that way.  We are called to love as Christ loves right?  Well this is how he loves us, exactly how we are, but too much to let us stay that way.  We aren't perfect, but Christ is loving us into perfection, into the person God has called us to be.  If we truly love as Christ does, the way we're called to love, we must start loving people the same way.   We must challenge them to speak the truth always, we must walk beside them through the hard times, we must encourage them to spend time with the Lord, and mostly we must love them; not the fluffy, my heart is floating love, but the hanging onto the cross with splinters in my face love.  It's time to start taking a stand for Christ, for looking to our neighbor whom we see every day and walking with that person, caring for that person, and when the time is right sharing your knowledge with that person.  You may be the only bible someone ever reads, when they look at your life what do they see?  Do they see a "christian" who's luke warm like the rest of society, do they see an ice cold heart that is too shattered to do this on their own, or do they see a fire-breathing lion ready to love fiercly, compassionately, and loyally.  

Christ walked on earth, walked with his Mother, with his disciples, with his people.  He loved generously, mercifully, and humbly; constantly challenging people to walk with him, to follow him so that they may see the Father.  He could have came down as a 33 year old man, die on a cross, and rise again, yet he came down as a child, he cared for people, and when the time was right he shared his knowledge with those same people.  The final weeks of Lent are quickly upon us, and as we prepare to enter into Jerusalem with Jesus, where will you be during the Passion?  You see as Catholics we often hear questions of "why do you wear crucifixes" or "why is Jesus still on the cross when he rose on Easter morning?" The answer is simple, the crucifix is a the greatest symbol of love, Jesus' crucifixation is the greatest act of love. an act that we are all called to as we are all called to love!  

This is my favorite Crucifix that I have encountered.  It's located at St. Mark's in Wilmington, NC.  I'll never forget the moment I walked into the church, I was overwhelmed by tears and God saying

  I love you this much.

"I love you this much
I'm waitin' on you
To make up your mind, do you love me too
However long it takes I'm never givin' up
No matter what I love you this much" --Jimmy Wayne

--Live Love--