One Bread, One Body - Reflection for April 15, 2006
DID YOU MISS ME?
"I opened to my Lover – but my Lover had departed, gone. I sought Him but I did not find Him; I called to Him but He did not answer me." –Song of Songs 5:6
On this Holy Saturday, there is no Mass, no eucharistic presence in the tabernacles of our Churches, no eucharistic readings proclaimed for the world to hear. Jesus our Life (Jn 14:6; 11:25) has fallen to the ground and died (Jn 12:24). He has been buried in the tomb, and we who are baptized into Him have also been buried with Him (see Rm 6:4). We are deprived of His special eucharistic presence until tonight's Easter Vigil.
Many might say, "So what's the big deal? Just wait until tonight or tomorrow and you'll get your Jesus back as usual." They would be speaking pragmatic words, but love isn't pragmatic or practical. The toddler cries when its beloved mother leaves the room. The lover in the Song of Songs passage above searches all night long for her missing Lover. We who are living our Baptisms to the full are so joined to Jesus that we miss Him terribly when we are deprived of His presence. When we have centered our lives on the Mass, we miss His presence in the Eucharist so much because we love Him so much.
Do you miss the eucharistic Jesus today? Do you even know He is missing? If not, today is your chance to grow in love. Ask the Holy Spirit to pour out the love of God in your heart (Rm 5:5). If absence makes the heart grow fonder, then may Jesus' absence today make your hearts overflow with love for Him.
PRAYER:
"As the hind longs for the running waters, so my soul longs for You, O God. Athirst is my soul for God, the living God. When shall I go and behold the face of God?" (Ps 42:2-3)
There was a reason, and this is it. I didn't know why I was feeling so empty, so alone yesterday - but here is the answer. It just makes me realize how very closely tied I am to Him...bound like a handmaid to her Master...a call for commitment like nothing else I have ever known.
He's trying to keep me close, but it's up to me to fully choose Him. I can't continue to pretend to be something I'm not...living like I used to live, acting how I used to act, thinking how I used to think. It's different now. It has been for the last 7 years. Everytime I'd take a few steps back into the world I had left or played with the idea of selfishly serving myself, I would feel this same pain in my heart...like He was gone...not because He left me but because I was the one who walked away from Him.
It's something I know not many people will understand, but that shouldn't keep me from walking this path. This will always be a test of faithfulness. He has to have all of me...all of my heart...all of what I do...all the time.
All for your glory, Lord. To live for anything else would be living in vain.
+AMDG+
0 comments:
Post a Comment