Come Away By Yourselves

Jesus encourages us to respond to our troubled hearts with trust in him and in his Father.   To see Jesus is to see the Father, to know Jesus is to know the Father.  Jesus's love and mercy reveal what God is truly like even more than a vision of God's power and majesty.  Jesus's miracles show us that the same God who is the all powerful creator is also our savior and loving father.  Our trust in God's goodness is emboldened by our awareness of God's strength.  God's first "miracle," creation, also speaks clearly of God's power on our behalf. 

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Jesus is the Good Shepherd.  This reality fills us with confidence in following Christ.  Jesus is also the gate into the fullness of life and into eternal life.   Entering this gate entails conversion.  We need to leave behind whatever keeps us from following Christ.  Conversion demands courage, however, because the gate to life is narrow and the path is difficult.   We need courage to fight against sin, to recognize it in the first place, and to accept the tension that our Christian life can cause in our contemporary world.  Since Jesus is our Shepherd, however, this courage is made possible through trust in him.  He is always at our side, with his rod and his staff.

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"He who eats this bread will live forever."  "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him."  In the Bread of Life Discourse, Jesus makes wonderful claims about Eucharistic Communion.  In Communion, we share in Jesus' resurrection and are intimately united with him.  This should change the way we think about Jesus.  He is not a merely figure from the past or a distant model to imitate, he is a spiritual force in our lives, a person who is always present with a mind, a will, power, and initiatives.  Faith unlocks Jesus' life in our lives, his activity in our activities. 

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Originally published in 2021.

On Divine Mercy Sunday, we reflect on Jesus's message of peace to the Apostles in the upper room on Easter Sunday.  He brings them peace and joy when they are afraid and sad.  He gives them and us the means to return to peace, the sacrament of confession.  God's Mercy is powerful and enduring, only our pride can keep us from experiencing its marvelous effects.

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https://soundcloud.com/dave-grieco-1/tracks

Originally published Easter 2021

Jesus's Resurrection is the culmination of his victory over sin and death.  In his death and his rising to new life Jesus defeats Satan, the great enemy of God and humanity.  The Resurrection proves that God's love for us is undefeated and truly invincible.  In any battle that God wants us to fight, we can be fully confident of eventual and joyful victory.   Happy Easter!

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For the music see https://open.spotify.com/album/5XqqbnE7ywxlAPO9jXBACh?si=DYb0d5L0RfO50xGiLl_tRQ

For last year's (calmer) Easter meditation, see https://comeaway.buzzsprout.com/936226/3358177-loving-much or on Apple podcasts at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/loving-much/id1503216953?i=1000471451374

The Cross of Christ is "folly to the Gentiles and a scandal to the Jews."  The Crucifixion contradicts our normal expectations of who God is and how he should act.  In speaking against us the Cross reveals God as radical love and sin as radical evil.   The Cross even contradicted Jesus, who asked that "this cup might pass" during his prayer in the garden.  Our crosses will thus also be difficult to understand and accept.  However, they remain precious opportunities to follow Christ and live his life. 

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Jesus's death on the cross is the supreme revelation of God's love.  St. Paul tells us that nothing will separate us from the love of God in Christ.  Christ's death shows us how much he loves us and what the Father's love for Him, and for us, is like.  This is a  reliable love, upon which we can firmly plant all of our problems and our whole life.  The cross fills us with confidence in God and our own crosses are a sign of God's confidence in us. 

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Almsgiving (charity) is one of the three traditional practices of Lent.  When preaching about almsgiving, Jesus focuses on purity of intention.  We should love others for their sake and for the glory of God.  St. Paul paints a portrait of the Christian heart in his letter to the Ephesians.  Christian charity is especially imbued with understanding of others and selflessness in service.  

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On the Feast of St. Joseph, we  reflect on his courage in accepting the unique responsibilities entrusted to him by God.  This courage was bolstered by his trust in God and in God's plan.  Joseph didn't have to understand everything to be faithful to God's will.  His determination to love and protect Mary and Jesus is tied to his flexibility and detachment with respect to his own plans. 

For more information and resources, please visit https://comeawaybyyourselves.com 

While Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving are the three traditional practices of Lent, prayer should take priority.  We learn from the example of Jesus who put prayer in the first place in his day.  Like Our Lord, we should make sacrifices in order to find time to pray.  Mental prayer is especially fruitful and important.  To raise our minds and hearts to God is restful and reminds us that God is our father and our great friend.  Lacking time for prayer is most often a lack of desire to pray or a failure to really grasp its importance.  To pray well, we should be totally open and sincere with God about our lives and everything happening in our heart. 

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