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March 16, 2024As Lent draws to a close and we prepare to move into Holy Week, our reading from the Prophet Jeremiah this weekend speaks to the importance of our relationship with God, a relationship based on trust, love, and forgiveness. In the words of Jeremiah, we hear God’s longing for us to open our hearts and our minds to God’s wondrous love, “I will be their God and they shall be my people. No longer will they have need to teach their friends and relatives how to know the Lord. All from the greatest to the least shall know me, says the Lord, for I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sin no more.”
In these closing days of Lent, we have an opportunity to focus on our relationship with God. When we gaze upon the crucifix, we see the loving arms of Jesus open wide for you and for me. Those open arms are inviting us to trust in God’s mercy and love. Jesus was not a helpless victim put to death by evil. Jesus willingly stood on the side of love, regardless of the cost. Despite how hard people may have tried, they could not kill love and Jesus triumphed over death and now offers to us the peace and security of his love, the embrace of those loving arms, the peace of forgiveness and comfort and joy of complete love.
A good question for us to ponder during these closing days of Lent is how we choose to respond to that love. I encourage you to spend some time in prayer gazing on the crucifix, as you imagine Jesus embracing you with those loving arms open wide. Listen with your heart as you hear Jesus tell you how precious and loved you are in God’s eyes. Let that love envelop you in an embrace that will truly open your mind and heart to the joy of the Resurrection we will celebrate in just two short weeks.
May God bless you and your loved ones today, tomorrow, and forever more.
Fr. Harry
