Holy Thursday • God is with us! He is with us in the happy Christmas times, the intimate Holy Thursday moments, and our tragic Good Fridays. No matter how much we run from him, abandon him, or choose everything else besides him, God is still with us! And he chooses us.

Jesus knew that Judas would betray him, but he still washed his feet and did everything he could to show love. If only Judas had been able to receive God's love. If only Judas had chosen Jesus.

The Christian life is not about trying to do well on the "final exam". It is, rather, that we need to learn to see that Jesus is walking with us. Sin has closed our eyes, ears, and heart to God's presence in our world and within us. We won't be able to share the love of Jesus with others if we ourselves have not received it.

I want to share with you a Eucharistic miracle I experienced at St. Wenceslaus. It was the Sunday after Fr. Kelly's funeral, and a number of large hosts were left in the tabernacle. I dumped the ciborium into the second host bowl on the altar and then thought, "That wasn't smart. Now all the large hosts are on the very bottom of the host bowl." I had wanted to use them up at Mass. I moved some small hosts to the first host bowl, and then when I looked back, all the large hosts were neatly on the top of the first host bowl.

This tiny miracle reminded me that God is with us. May this year's Triduum experience open your eyes, ears, and heart to God's presence. 

(17 Apr 2025)

Going Deeper: Do you live your daily life in Communion with the God who is with us, or do your daily choices and anxieties reflect a life lived as if God wasn't there? How have you noticed Jesus walking with you in your daily life? In whom do you most clearly see Jesus?

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