Deepening Love

It was nearing the end of Jesus' public life. He had given his friends predictions about what was to happen to Him; that He soon would go where they could not follow Him; that the Son of Man would suffer and die, but that He would send another advocate to be with them. They did not understand these things. Peter wanted to defend Him against such a hideous death, but to that Christ replied, "Get behind me, you Satan." For Peter was thinking as man thinks, not as God thinks. Peter did not see the overall plan of God and how this was always in the plan from the beginning of time. The Son's will was always the Father's will, bound with the love of the Holy Spirit; Three as One, One in Three; an inseparable and inexplainable Mystery of our faith.

He continued to walk on with them, teaching and instructing them every moment He could, trying to give them all He could in these last times with them. He wanted them to know how great His love for them was, and that He entrusted them to the Father and the Spirit, even though they always were in the Father and the Spirit, because of the Trinitarian nature of our God. Yet, He continued to deepen this love, minute by minute as the time neared for His entry into Jerusalem, where He would be welcomed like a King, and later even proclaimed a King by the very ones who posted the sign upon the cross, the instrument of His death.

How can I deepen my love for You, Jesus, as I enter these last days of lent? I have shown my weakness during this holy season. I have stood with the soldiers and the jeerers of the crowd. I have been a member of the sanhedrin. So how can I join with Mary and John and Mary Magdalene? How can I cast away my fear and follow you bravely along the way of the cross? How can I trust that God's ways are indeed the only ways, even when the road is difficult and it seems so long? Why does it seem that I have so many roadblocks along the way that deter me? Why do I always get sidetracked? Why am I so easily distracted? Help me, Jesus, to be more like your mother Mary, and to just say "yes" to God's calling on my life and follow without question. This is the freedom You desire me to have. Help me to obtain this freedom in You. Amen.