Week 25 - The final hour
Theme: Jesus shows us nothing else than that God is love. Jesus is himself eternal love. And yet, He is now hanging on the cross. People are capable of wishing others dead.
What I might wish to ask: That I don’t withdraw from seeing the suffering Jesus has to endure, and that of so many with him; that I have the courage to see my own lack of freedom just as clearly as that of the bystanders, that He can probe and touch my heart from his cross.
I place myself before God who is looking at me with love. He keeps his hand on my shoulder while I pray with this difficult theme.
Music: Stabat Mater: Lament. Karl Jenkins
Lament:
Feeling all the grief and sorrow
We live life with shadows in our hearts and minds,
with tears that wait to fall when sorrow in the world
is more than we can truly bear.
We hear the cries of children,
we see death cast shadows on their hearts and minds,
as mothers in their grief stand crying,
weeping, weeping, crying, crying,
weeping, weeping for this world.
On our bed of thorns such sorrow must surely end,
our tears can wash away the sins of the world,
no more crying, weeping, weeping,
crying, crying, weeping, weeping in this world, this world.
Staying close while someone is suffering is very hard to do. And yet I now try to stay close to Jesus. His friends have abandoned him. The people around him want him dead. He is in pain and his breathing is getting more and more difficult. No wonder He doesn’t just feel abandoned by his friends but also by God, his Father. I stay close to him.
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Matthew 27, 39-44
Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking him, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he wants to; for he said, ‘I am God’s Son.’” The bandits who were crucified with him also taunted him in the same way.
I look at the people and I hear what they are saying. I look at Jesus. He had given us a new commandment: love each other, save each other, support each other. Love for God and loving my fellow human beings are one and the same. I reflect on what listening to the derision and mocking of these people does to Jesus. Their hearts are closed to God’s love: closed to the possibility of being able to save a fellow human being.
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I consider the words Jesus spoke before He died: “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing”. Wondrous words! The light of Love.
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From Etty Hillesum’s diary:
I shall try to help You, God, to stop my strength ebbing away,
though I cannot vouch for it in advance.
But one thing is becoming increasingly clear to me:
that You cannot help us,
that we must help You
and in so doing also help ourselves.
And that is all we can manage these days
and also all that really matters:
that we safeguard that little piece of You, God, in ourselves.
And perhaps we can also play a role
in delving You up
in the afflicted hearts of others.
Original Dutch tekst:
Ik zal je helpen God, dat je het niet in mij begeeft,
maar ik kan van tevoren nergens voor instaan.
Maar dit éne wordt me steeds duidelijker:
dat jij ons niet kunt helpen,
maar dat wij jou moeten helpen
en door dat laatste helpen wij onszelf.
En dit is het enige,
wat we in deze tijd kunnen redden
en ook het enige, waar het op aankomt:
een stukje van jou in onszelf, God.
En misschien kunnen we ook er aan meewerken
jou op te graven
in de geteisterde harten van anderen.
What effect do these words have on me?
Music: Stabat Mater: Lament. Karl Jenkins