The Mission had been really intense and finally they had some time apart with the Master. They had tried to find a quiet place and the crowds even followed them there, leading the Lord to feed 5000 men from five loaves and 2 fish! It was overwhelming for the disciples. What was going on?
How could the disciples make sense of things?
Yet, how Jesus had been longing for this time with His friends! A time when He could let them know His Heart! How He longed that at least His friends would understand Him! We all so long that someone will understand us! To be known and loved as we are! This desire comes from God Himself. Jesus, the God Man longed that His friends would know Him.
Finally they have this time apart. Jesus asks His friends, "Who do you say that I am?"
And Peter responds, "The Messiah of God..."
And so Jesus, longing to share what is on His Heart, tells them: "The Son of Man will be rejected and killed, and be raised…"
Can we understand how intimate these words are: the Lord sharing deeply of Himself? The Lord longs that His disciples will join Him on His Way of the Cross that is the path to Life. He longs that they will stand with Him at the foot of the Cross.
Each year the Church, the community of beloved disciples of Jesus, celebrates Lent. It is fundamentally a time to prepare ourselves to celebrate the passion, death, and resurrection of the Lord, to stand with Mary at the foot of the Cross.
Please, let us take this season of Lent seriously as a time of penance and reconciliation – but not as a sad time. Rather let us understand it as a time of love and intimacy with the God of Love who desires to take us into His Heart, that we know Him. If we take up our Cross He will lead us on the path to life!
Let our Lenten penitential practices be for that! Stop doing those things that get in the way of God’s love and do more to love more! At the heart of Lent is prayer - personal prayer and family prayer. It’s all about love!
Let us turn to our Mother Mary, to ask her to lead us in Lent, so to be ready to stand with her at the foot of the Cross. Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us.
