Jesus’ Redemptive Death: Are You Open to His Love and Mercy?
5th Sunday of Lent – Year B
The author Gabriel Garcia Marquez once said that there is one event that he would not be able to describe in writing—the most important event of his life: his death. Jesus spoke about His own death many times in the Gospels. He likens His death to a grain of wheat that must die in order to bear fruit. Jesus’ death was so fruitful that it has a universal dimension. By the words, “And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself,” Jesus revealed that He died for every person who has ever been created.
Jesus’ suffered and died in a horrendous manner. It was so terrible that even He—God, said, “I am troubled now,” as He contemplated His death on the Cross. Could you imagine God, Who created the entire world, being troubled? And yet, Jesus died for no other reason than His Love for us. From a spiritual point of view, it is very important to grow in a deeper awareness of the depth of Jesus’ Love, since He paid the greatest price to show it to us: the price of His life.
One day each of us will also die. We do not know when or how, but we do know that we will encounter Jesus at the moment of our death. At this moment, the demons will also try to do everything they can to convince us that God does not love us. The questions, therefore, remain: At the moment of our death will we be open to accept Jesus’ Love and Mercy? Or, will we reject His Love and choose condemnation?
I would like to invite you to take some time to reflect on how you will use the remaining time of Lent to grow closer to Jesus. I would like to encourage you to ask yourselves: “Do I really want to take advantage of the redemptive death of Jesus? Do I really wish to benefit from the grace of Jesus’ suffering?” Jesus gives us the privilege to be His sons and daughters, and He gives us the opportunity to follow Him and go to Heaven. But do we really care about this? Do we live (and even die) with this awareness? Or, are we driven more by our own desires to avoid death at all costs and live in comfort?
As you consider your answers to these questions, please remember that God loves you and His greatest desire is for you to be united with Him in Heaven forever. For this He died and rose from the dead.
Tags: #death, #frarthur, #frarthurmarat, #frmarat, #lent, #lent2021, #lent21, #olw, #olwparish, #redemption, #reflection
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