Tuesday of Holy Week
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Today we reflect on what took place Tuesday of Holy Week The morning begins with Jesus going to the Temple to teach openly and He “began to speak to them in parables once again, saying: 'The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a feast for his son's wedding. He sent his servants to call those who had been invited, but they would not come. Next he sent some more servants. "Tell those who have been invited" he said "that I have my banquet all prepared, my oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, everything is ready. Come to the wedding." But they were not interested: one went off to his farm, another to his business…
All were invited to the Son’s wedding feast, which signifies the Eucharist and Heaven and transforming union with Jesus. However, many were not interested. They desired lesser things more than the greatest thing – to be with the King’s Son and share in the joy of the Kingdom.
Their fundamental problem was that their desires were too small. I mean, are you kidding me, what is a farm or a business in comparison to sharing in the things of the King!
Jesus has promised us, “He who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do” and St John tells us “My dear people, we are already the children of God but what we are to be in the future has not yet been revealed; all we know is, that when it is revealed we shall be like him!”
Tuesday of Holy Week is all about Desire! But our desires are too small. The King wants to give you something very great – He wants to make you like himself – now the question is – will you accept the invitation and desire it?
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To share in all that God wants to give begins with our desire. St Augustine writes:
We have been promised that we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. The entire life of a good Christian is in fact an exercise of holy desire. You do not yet see what you long for, but the very act of desiring prepares you…
Suppose you are going to fill some container, and you know you will be given a large amount. Then you set about stretching your sack or wineskin or whatever it is. Why? Because you know the quantity you will have to put in it and your eyes tell you there is not enough room. By stretching it, therefore, you increase the capacity of the sack, and this is how God deals with us.
Simply by making us wait he increases our desire, which in turn enlarges the capacity of our soul, making it able to receive what is to be given to us. So, my brothers, let us continue to desire, for we shall be filled…By desiring heaven we exercise the powers of our soul. Now this exercise will be effective only to the extent that we free ourselves from desires leading to infatuation with this world.
Let me return to the example I have already used, of filling an empty container. God means to fill each of you with what is good; so cast out what is bad! If he wishes to fill you with honey and you are full of sour wine, where is the honey to go? The vessel must be emptied of its contents and then be cleansed. Yes, it must be cleansed even if you have to work hard and scour it. It must be made fit for…God…We must extend ourselves toward the measure of Christ so that when he comes he may fill us with his presence. Then we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. The Office of Readings for Friday of the 6th week in Ordinary Time
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St Augustine says our soul is like a leather bag that must be stretched to receive as much of God as He wants to give. We must do all we can to stretch the leather bag by spending time with God in daily meditation, talking to Jesus from the heart and reflecting on his life and words in silence and then living out the resolution we have drawn from our meditation
o Remember – the Rosary is meant to be a meditation
But we have very little strength to stretch our soul.
That is why we need to let God do the stretching and the emptying. We must let God stretch the container of our soul and we must let Him empty it of all the lesser things to fill us with the greatest thing – Himself.
We let God enlarge and empty our container by letting Him do what He wants to do in our life through people and circumstances. Remember – that means What you did not choose, what you do not like, what you cannot change and cannot understand.
Trust Him and accept what He is doing and don’t fight against Him. He is enlarging and emptying your soul to fill you with Himself and make you like Himself.
All you need is to desire for God to do so and never stop.
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Then the Pharisees took counsel to entrap Jesus by his teaching. Jesus responded with a scathing indictment against them saying seven times, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You outwardly appear righteous to men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?
We may all feel like a hypocrite at times but let me reassure you - you are not. A hypocrite is an actor; one who pretends to be a good Christian but refuses to allow God to change them.
You and I are not hypocrites. Yes, we are weak and imperfect, but we are not hypocrites. I know this because I know you have the right heart, the right desire.
Remember – we cannot make ourselves like God by our own achievements or some heroic effort. We must let God do it in us – so surrender to Him – just let Him do what ever he wants to do in you through people and events that are out of your control. Your job is to trust Him.
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Jesus began his teaching on the Tuesday of Holy Week with the parable of people who desire too little – earthly things that pass away quickly. He concludes it saying: "But take heed to yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life…But watch at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of man." Luke 21:34
“Watch at all times,” Jesus says – at all times pay attention to what you desire. Be aware of your desires and correct them. Check the lesser desires and say, “No, Lord, I don’t need this, I need you!” And keep desiring and choosing transforming union with Jesus over everything else and it will happen!
For Jesus has promised us, “He who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do” and St John tells us “My dear people, we are already the children of God but what we are to be in the future has not yet been revealed; all we know is, that when it is revealed we shall be like him!”