Today's liturgy will be heavy and long, because it includes the reading of the Passion. Paul Claudet writes The Gospels show us the Savior coming to the soul and imparting truth and virtue by the touch of a hand, the brushing of a garment, a bit of moistened earth applied to the locked eyelids. One look from him is enough to make an apostle out of that idler yawning under the fig tree…
What Claudet writes is poetic. Many times words or phrases from the gospel touch our hearts, and we feel inspired and lifted up. But such sentiments, wonderful as they are, often fail us when life tumbles and we are grasping for something solid. Being moved by the words of Jesus is not enough. When Jesus entered into his passion in the Garden, all of his apostles deserted him. They had heard his words and been amazed. But they had failed to find the real strength they offered because they had not imbibed them.
There are times in our lives when the words that once sounded poetic and profound no longer inspire. That is a good time for us, a time laden with grace, because it brings us to a new awareness. It brings us to a point where we cannot continue on as passive spectators. If we allow it, our very questioning opens up the truths we believe in, allowing us to delve deeper. Only when we find better answers, ones brought out by our own pondering and not some pious sentiment found in a book, will we find real strength in Jesus words.
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