Month: March 2021

Pushing the Limits

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Excerpt from Take Time For Him: Some More

by Angela M Jendro

Order your paperback or e-book from Amazon!

Order the kindle e-book (or paperback) to read the Christmas meditation, the meditation for Mary Mother of God, and to reflect on the meditations all year at your convenience.

Palm Sunday

Read the Gospel of Mark 14-15

Meditation Reflection:

Palm Sunday we recall together the Passion of Christ as well as the weakness of our
personal faith and failures in faithfulness. We remember His entry into Jerusalem
received by adoring crowds, quickly turning into Crucifixion and mocking crowds.
Like Peter, how we perceive our faith versus how we act under pressure is pause for
recollection. Peter’s exchange with Jesus at the Last Supper depicts the Christian
struggle well:
“Peter said to him, ‘Even though all should have their faith shaken, mine will not be.’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Amen, I say to you, this very night before the cock crows twice you will deny me three times.’ But he vehemently replied, ‘Even though I should have to die with you, I will not deny you.’ And they all spoke similarly.” (Mark 14:29-31 NAB)
When has Peter’s attitude been our own? Complete confidence in our loyalty to Christ
– our faith in Who He is, our Hope in Him alone, our notion that our Love is undivided.
Yet, Christ knows the truth in our hearts. He knows the real limits of our faith, the
weakness of our hope, and the dissipation of our love when confronted with suffering
and disappointment. As long as God’s plan corresponds with our plan, we feel ready to
follow Him with magnanimous discipleship. Yet, when His will deviates from ours,
especially if it’s inexplicable to our natural understanding, we often falter.
The Passion of Christ’s love reveals our own tepidity. (Just consider how we complain
at reading or standing at Mass for the length of this Gospel passage. Yet how much
longer it was for Christ to actually endure!) Thankfully, Christ also redeems our failing
character by taking on our weak human failings Himself. Through the power of His
victory He infuses supernatural grace into our souls so that we may have His strength
to finally acquire in truth the magnanimous friendship with Christ we desired in
intention.
Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen, in his reflections for the third station on the Way
of the Cross, reflected:
“Three times Our Savior was tempted on the mountain, and three times He fell on the way to Mount Calvary. Thus did He atone for our three falls – to the temptation of the flesh, the world, and the devil.”
Jesus experienced natural human aversion to suffering. Yet, in the midst of that stress
He turned to the Father instead of away. He advanced a little and fell to the ground and prayed that if it were possible the hour might pass by him; he said, ‘Abba, Father, all things are possible to you. Take this cup away from me, but not what I will but what you will.’” Mark 14:35-36 NAB
Have we not all prayed the first part of this prayer?! Begging our Heavenly Father, “all
things are possible to You, take this cup away from me”. The agony of the deepest
human suffering pleads in these very words. The proverbial question we put to the
Lord – “if You are all Good and all Powerful, then why am I suffering?”

This mystery can only be understood in light of Jesus Christ. “But not what I will but
what You will.” God wills our eternal salvation. He wills it in conformity with respect for human free will. Human choices cause suffering, but God’s will directs all things, even the events of His Son’s suffering and death, to the triumph of love.
Most of the time we won’t know the particulars of how everything will play out, but we do know the final ending. Christ conquers – sin, human weakness, even death. Those who exalt themselves in sin will be humbled, and those who persevere in humility will be exalted. In Him we find healing, wholeness, strength, and eternal joy.
St. Paul promises that God works all things for good for those who love Him (Romans
8:28), not just some things. Christ promises the Cross to His followers, but He also
promises Resurrection. And the two are inseparable.
When things get tough, fallen human nature resists faith in the power of the Cross.
Sometimes it even mocks it like the passersby at Jesus’ crucifixion. In the account of Jesus’ Passion, individuals respond to His impending Cross in ways that we might be able to relate. I’ll follow until:
• Jesus isn’t Who I want Him to be. He won’t make me materially rich: Judas
• I’m tired or bored: Apostles asleep during Jesus’ Agony in the Garden
• I’m threatened: disciples fleeing the crowd with swords; Peter recognized by the maid
• I’m caught: young man in linen cloth
• I’ll cause a rift or make waves: Pilate
Even still, Jesus invites His betrayers into His mercy.
“But God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8
Progress in our spiritual journey corresponds to how far we are willing to follow Christ. Hopefully each year, we walk a step closer to the Cross and abide with Him a little longer.

This Holy Week, let us remain with Him. Let us stay close to Him in prayer without
falling asleep or rushing off to distractions. Let us enter into the mystery of His
suffering, death, and resurrection by accepting the griefs within our own situations and dying to what we cannot change, so that we may rise with Him who can redeem every sin and every situation.

Consider:

First and foremost, consider Christ’s love for you. Reflect on how He has shared
in your suffering. Have you ever felt alone, betrayed, anxious, mocked, lied about, physically hurting, or exhausted? Remember that Christ walks with you through the pain to resurrection in Him.
❖ How can your love for Christ be strengthened?
o Jesus observed about us that “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak”(Matthew 26:41). Consider times when you have experienced this.
o Have you ever sold out Christ for a worldly gain? Consider when you have prioritized money, status, or worldly acknowledgement over doing God’s will for you.
o Pilate’s betrayal sprang from “wishing to satisfy the crowd.” Sometimes we deny Christ by failing to speak up out of fear of being persecuted on His account. When asked “Are you a Christian?” or “Are you Catholic?”, how do you respond? Do you hesitate or qualify it? Or do you respond
confidently, “Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for
a reason for your hope” as St. Peter tells us (I Peter 3:15 NAB).
o What fears can the devil use to tempt you away from following the Lord?
How does he stir up your anxiety, and worry you into hiding, away from the Cross, like the other apostles?

Practical Application:

❖ Having identified the Cross in your life, intentionally carry it this week instead of
trying to escape it.
❖ Pray the Stations of the Cross or the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary this week

All Rights Reserved © 2020 Angela M Jendro

That Others May See More of Christ In You

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Excerpt from Take Time For Him: Some More

by Angela M Jendro

Order your paperback or e-book from Amazon!

Order the kindle e-book (or paperback) to read the Christmas meditation, the meditation for Mary Mother of God, and to reflect on the meditations all year at your convenience.

4th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Read the Gospel of John 12:20-33

Meditation Reflection:

Someone may say to you one day, “[Your Name], I would like to see Jesus.”  Imagine that for a moment and take it in.  A person looking to you with a hopeful and somewhat anxious expression, addressing you by name, and depending on you to connect them to Christ.

“Why me?” you might say.  In a secular culture void of God, searching souls see Christ from a distance and feel more at a loss to find their way to Him than you may think.  Your relationship with Jesus, and their relationship with you, may be the bridge they need.

Yet, to be Christ’s light and love in the world, to be a bridge, demands a serious choice which will decide the trajectory of your whole life.  Jesus made this choice, and so must each of His followers.  The choice – to live for yourself or to live for the Lord, to build a life of your own making or to build the kingdom of God.

A grain of wheat, in and of itself, is small and insignificant – enough to feed only a bird. Yet, within it lies tremendous potential – enough to feed human persons.  The movement from potential to actuality however begins with death.  If a grain were a conscious soul with a mind and will, it would see before it a decision:

  1. Go on living as a seed for itself, unchanged and comfortable.
  2. Surrender itself to the Creator, be broken apart in death and then transformed into something new and quite different from its experience as a seed.

Although the second option sounds scary, to grow and change also entails being lifted up from the ground, becoming tall stalks of wheat, and finally, maturing to the point where it can be picked as harvest for others.  The first choice may be easier, but the second adds so much more meaning to its life.

As Jesus’ Hour approached – His Passion and Death, He came to the final crossroads of His decision.  He had said Yes to the Father when He agreed to become man at the incarnation, He had said No to Satan’s temptations in the desert, and now as His ultimate sacrifice approached He weighed His decision aloud for His disciples to hear and one day imitate. 

Jesus didn’t want to suffer but He did want to save us. So, what was He really to do?  Christ’s magnanimous love refused to live for Himself, so He chose the path to the Cross.  He chose to die that He might be lifted up – on the Cross and in His Resurrection – and thereby bear fruit that gives all mankind who plucks it eternal life.

To be Christ’s disciples, we need to be nourished by Him first. Under the appearance of wheat bread in the host, He gives His very Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity to us in the Eucharist.  With this union and grace, He begins His work transforming our souls, if we let Him.

He starts by breaking down sin and selfishness.  Dying to ourselves marks the first stage of development.  Thus prayer, fasting, and almsgiving facilitate this process by putting God first, denying ourselves pleasures, and opening ourselves up to the poor around us. 

From this death to self however, which no doubt is painful, emerges transformation.  Sin and self at bay, Christ is more free to build virtues within us and to grow authentic Christian love.  The process snowballs positively as the greater one loves, the easier sacrifice becomes.  In full Christian development, love is so perfected that it, like Christ, can’t bear to choose pleasure or comfort over love of God and neighbor. We experience something of this in human loves between parent and child, spouses, or dear friends.  In loving relationships, giving of one’s self or possessions is felt to be an opportunity rather than a burden.

In this fifth week of Lent, you may be feeling the pain of perseverance in the commitments you made Ash Wednesday.  However, the more weak you feel on your own, the more reliant you become on Christ and His grace to support you.  Have hope, we are past the midpoint!  Just as there can be no Easter Sunday without Good Friday, we can’t truly feast until we’ve fasted.  The more we enter in to Lent, the more joy we will experience during Easter.  

Like Jesus, we might pray to the Father:

“Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, for this purpose I have come to this hour.” (v.27)

We choose death to self because we desire life in Christ – which we know to be much happier, peaceful, and fulfilling than anything we could construct for ourselves.  We don’t die for its own sake but rather to receive greater life. 

Jesus teaches, “If any one serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there shall my servant be also” (v.26). In consequence, as we approach Holy Week we endeavor to be with our Lord wherever He is – at the Last Supper on Holy Thursday, at the Cross on Good Friday, waiting in anticipation Holy Saturday, and rejoicing in His Resurrection on Easter Sunday.

If we persevere and remain near to Christ, those near to us can be blessed by His Presence too. Our lived discipleship might drive out the lies of Satan with Christ’s Truth.  You could be a witness that Christ brings true happiness to someone disillusioned by the world’s false promises.  Your unconditional love could drive out the lie that someone is only as valuable as they are useful.  Your forgiveness could cast out the temptation of despair with the truth of mercy. 

Christ’s saving love draws everyone to Himself.  If we allow ourselves to be conformed to Him, we just might be that bridge to Christ for someone’s salvation, or that stalk of wheat which they pluck to receive our Lord for the first time.

Consider:

  • Meditate on the words, “we would like to see Jesus.”  Make this your prayer to the Holy Spirit and spend 5 minutes in silent prayer listening.
  • Consider Christ’s gift of self for you.  Pray about how you might give more of yourself to Him and to others.
  • How does your life witness your faith to others, and in what ways do you sometimes hide your faith?
    • Are you a joyful or a gloomy Christian?
    • In conversations, does your speech reflect your Christian values or do you participate in gossip or vulgar jokes.
    • Do you speak about your church or priest with respect or are you overly critical?
    • Do you reach out to persons at work or in your neighborhood who seem to be friendless or having a tough time, or are you too focused on your own life?
    • Do you greet people with a smile? (one of Mother Teresa’s common suggestions)

Practical Application:

  • Invite someone to Mass or Bible Study with you this week.
  • Pray with someone this week.
  • Intentionally greet each person with a smile, even if you don’t feel like it.
  • Pray the Stations of the Cross.  Meditatively be with Christ at each step. 

All Rights Reserved © 2020 Angela M Jendro

Restoring the Sacred

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Excerpt from Take Time For Him: Some More

by Angela M Jendro

Order your paperback or e-book from Amazon!

Order the kindle e-book (or paperback) to read the Christmas meditation, the meditation for Mary Mother of God, and to reflect on the meditations all year at your convenience.

3rd Sunday of Lent

Read the Gospel of John 2:13-25

Meditation Reflection:

Is nothing sacred? That’s how it feels sometimes in our culture.  From the vulgarity prevalent in speech, the disappearance of courteous manners, and the dissolution of Sunday rest, to the dismantling of laws which protect the rights of the unborn, the promotion of euthanasia, and the disrespect for the institution of marriage – nothing seems off-limits.

Jesus felt the same way in this Gospel passage.  He acted in outrage at the disrespect shown to the most sacred place on earth.  The Temple in Jerusalem was where God’s unique and immanent presence had dwelt.  God’s presence had been upon the Ark of the Covenant since the time of the Exodus and remained in the Temple from the time of King Solomon to the Babylonian Exile.  The Lord had promised Solomon:

“Now the word of the LORD came to Solomon, ‘Concerning this house which you are building, if you will walk in my statutes and obey my ordinances and keep all my commandments and walk in them, then I will establish my word with you, which I spoke to David your father. And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel.’”  I Kings 6:11-13

Upon finishing the Temple and dedicating it to the Lord, the priests placed the Ark in the center of the Temple in the Holy of Holies.  God, true to His word, dwelt there.

“And when the priests came out of the holy place, a cloud filled the house of the LORD, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD.” I Kings 8:10-11

This did not mean the Israelites thought the Ark could “contain” God, who is transcendent and infinite.  It was nevertheless, His immanent and particular presence. Unfortunately, over time they abused their relationship with God.  On the one hand, they knew with God in their midst no one could defeat them, and this is admirable faith.  However, over time they spiraled downward in their sins and so payed lip service to God, expecting Him to maintain His protection over them, while at the same time living in defiance of His laws. 

After much prodding by God through His prophets for their words and actions to align, the people remained obstinate, so God took His presence from the Temple (Ezekiel 10) and left them to their own devices.  They were quickly conquered by the Babylonians and exiled.  In the same way, when we refuse Christ’s grace and mercy, ignoring His calls to conversion, we find ourselves overcome by our sin and feeling exiled from the comfort of God’s peace.

Eventually the Jews were allowed to return and rebuild the Temple.  Although it became a place to offer sacrifice again, God’s immanent presence upon the Temple had not yet returned.  When He finally did enter the temple, it wasn’t as a cloud descending.  Rather, far beyond expectation or imagination, God’s presence returned in His incarnate Son!

Unfortunately on this day that God came to the Temple, He found shady business transactions where there should have been reverent preparation for prayer.  He’d had enough and kicked them out. 

After His Ascension into Heaven, Jesus established His ongoing immanent presence in the Temple of His followers through Baptism and nourishes those followers with His Real Presence in the Eucharist. Let’s not become too complacent in our faith, but rather live as if we are in the presence of God – because we are.

prayer vigil for John Paul II

Consider:

  • Like the Israelites, it’s easy for us to begin taking God’s gifts and presence for granted.  In what areas has reverence for God slipped a bit in your life? What “tables” would Jesus overturn if He spent the day with you?  How might you restore sacredness there?
  • Are there areas of your life where you pay lip service to God? What habits do you persist in that don’t correspond to God’s ways?
  • How might you live more authentically as a baptized Christian – a Temple of Holy Spirit, a Light of Christ, a child of God?
    • In the media you consume
    • In the work you do
    • In your friendships
    • In your prayer life
    • In your priorities and goals

Practical Application:

  • Take concrete steps to restore the sacred in one area of your life. 
    • Arrive at Mass 5 minutes early, or read the Scriptures ahead of time so you can better prepare
    • Delete any social media accounts, music, or channels that are inconsistent with your Christian calling
    • Make a plan as to how you will avoid break room gossip or crude jokes
    • Develop greater sensitivity toward the dignity of life by contacting your local crisis pregnancy center or nursing home and helping them with a need
    • Restore the sacred in your marriage by doing something intentional to deepen your relationship and show your appreciation, cut out habits of disrespect.

All Rights Reserved © 2020 Angela M Jendro