Hello brothers and sisters, today is Tuesday in Holy Week and probably one of the most unique Holy Weeks we've ever had.
Today’s topic is on care for others and for our families, and I am going to connect it with the specific last word of Jesus on the Cross when He says to Mary and John, “Woman, behold your son,” and to John, “Behold your mother.” So taking those words of Jesus, let's look at our own relationships.
In general, Lent is the time to draw near to the Cross and to be with Jesus there, to bring our love for Jesus, to bring our hurts to Him, our sins, our desire for mercy. But it's also a time to bring our relationships to God. It's also a time we can gather around the Cross in prayer and bring those we care about most dearly and even those whom we struggle to care for, those we struggle to be in a relationship with, those who we are frequently annoyed with, a reality of life.
Here’s the main point for today… If you remember anything, remember this, everything changes underneath the shadow of the Cross.
Everything changes underneath the shadow of the Cross.
That for John and Mary, they went to the Cross, following Jesus with one kind of relationship—as disciples of the Lord—and left the Cross with a completely different relationship. There were now mother and son, son and mother. So too with us, when we become Christians, our relationships are elevated beyond just being fellow human beings, but we are called to be brothers and sisters to one another.
Going back to the idea, how do we bring our relationships to the Cross? What does it look like and what does that even matter? If I bring someone I have difficulty being in a relationship with, someone I’m annoyed with or someone who has hurt me in the past, when I'm at the Cross with that person, I'm there in front of Jesus. I see Jesus’ endless mercy for me and for that person. As I meditate on that I realize that, wow I really have no right to hold on to my grudge. Maybe I have a right to be angry at this person, maybe they have sinned against justice against me or have done something wrong and truly have been wrong. But Jesus You even forgave me of all of my sins and their sins. I can let go of this thing I've been holding onto. I can forgive. I can bear with this person’s weaknesses. And sure, there are some practical things you can’t just forget things or not reconcile deep hurts in our life, but we find our initial strength to forgive at the Cross. And what about those we really actually care about, those we love, those we hold dear especially in these times of coronavirus? There are probably some of those we care about who we can't actually see or we feel isolated from, and we’re wondering, “how do I actually care for this person? I'm worried about them, how are they doing? Are they going to get sick? Do they have people relating with them regularly? How are we called to love them?”
First, I want to bring them to the Cross with Jesus. When we pray with Jesus at the Cross, we see that He cares so much about His mother to give her His beloved disciple, to give Mary His beloved disciple. He cares for her, and so too is Jesus going to care for our loved ones. So too is our Lord concerned, even more so than you are, about the ones you care about.
In the last part of the scripture passage of John 19, we see that the disciple took Mary into his home. I invite you all to reflect on how the Lord is calling you to invite others into your home during this particular time in the world, this particular time, this unique Lent that we have. I think many people are isolated, many people are longing for real relationships. Many people are more open to the gospel, perhaps more than they've ever been, or just even to receiving simple love. People are longing to be known.
So how can you reach out, how can you call, how can you write a letter, how can you reach out and invite someone else into your heart? You might not be able to physically bring someone to your home, but we can invite someone into our life and that's the real call. Jesus is calling us to invite others into our life. How can we do this today?