February 18 - March 31
In all of his conversations and relationships, the venerated titles that Christ held were rarely proclamations of his own. He made it clear that he was God, but did not seek active worship from the people of his time. His directive was, “Follow me.” The vocabulary implications of this simple request were that Jesus would be walking towards some end goal. We are to accompany him on that journey, or in so many other ways, he would be accompanying us on that journey. Our faith calls us to walk with Jesus.
Where would Jesus’ journey take him? The cross, the heart wrenching penultimate act of his ministry, is where the road would lead, and at no point does he look at his followers and ask them to not go further with him. The followers were called to be with him every step until the end. In trying to understand what the personhood of Jesus means for our daily lives, the teachings we must rely on are the fundamentals he outlined from his earliest ministry day and continued to reiterate until those final moments.
Where would Jesus’ journey take him? The cross, the heart wrenching penultimate act of his ministry, is where the road would lead, and at no point does he look at his followers and ask them to not go further with him. The followers were called to be with him every step until the end. In trying to understand what the personhood of Jesus means for our daily lives, the teachings we must rely on are the fundamentals he outlined from his earliest ministry day and continued to reiterate until those final moments.
February 18the Beatitude provide an image of the Kingdom of Heaven. We see an image of what we will find in Heaven, and by contrast, what we will not find in that Kingdom. In here, we see how God will redefine things that bring joy and happiness; the things that allow us to experience the blessings of God.
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February 25The concept of power is a driving force in the lives of so many. Being willing to not waver in the face of adversity, and to go so far as to pursue that fight is a celebrated quality. Jesus reversed the understanding of power. When the world chooses the allure of intimidation and force, Jesus chose the route of humility and love. Rather than being the conqueror, we are called to create opportunities for compassion and kindness.
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March 3As the world grows, it has become more and more easy to find ways to eschew commitment to anyone or anything. We are encouraged to pursue our own desires, and if those desires change, we are within our rights to move that way. Yet, the beauty of the gospel is the fact that God never moved on from humanity, and we are called to live into commitment ourselves. Part of faithful living is realizing what it means to be faithful in our marriages, to our friends, and to those in our professional worlds. Rather than chasing after the next shiny thing, we are encouraged to double down on that which we love: God and neighbor.
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March 10Mercy is the thing we all desire but struggle to give. We often expect others to go the distance for us yet fail to realize when we have gone a half measure for them. Yet the only one we can control is ourselves. Rather than focusing on how others aren’t giving us enough, or even worse that we need to repay some affront received with something equal. Our goal is not to contemplate on fair and equal retribution but to dream up radical and unmerited shows of love, even if doing so benefits the other person more than us. We do this because Jesus did this for us, laying down his life when he was blameless so that we might experience a fullness of our own lives.
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March 17A willingness to give is something that is deeply exalted in our modern world, yet the frustration of this comes in attempting to walk the high wire between giving in such a way where people know we are philanthropic but that we can claim humility at the same time. Jesus makes it clear that walking alongside him strips away the notion of false humility. We give out of compassion for others, rather than in the hopes that we might inherit some other praise or celebration.
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March 24 - Palm SundayJesus would pray for and love those people who would persecute him. Even while the masses filled the street praising him, he knew there were naysayers in the city. Yet he willingly went there in order to fully love them. The road we walk in life will be complicated and can put us at odds with the world. Jesus’s encouragement is to engage with those who do not love us, for this is the action which lead to the fullest life.
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March 31, 2024, Easter Sunday
And so, as we come to the end of Lent, we return back to the beginning. The Law which was to be fulfilled has in fact been fulfilled. The world has been set right. We are living proof of the living God. We are Easter people who are witnesses of the Gospel. We are given the gift of life in the face of a broken death filled world. We get the privilege to go out into the world and be a beacon for others; a city on a Hill. This Easter is a calling for us to recommit to our Christian faith. Let us to be reinvigorated for the work of the Kingdom of Heaven.