Every day most of us put on a different mask for the people with whom we interact. One of the reasons is that we think people will not like us if they see the true person behind the mask. We often feel we are not worthy of love or respect if people see us as we are.
God sees us EXACTLY as we are, warts and all, and loves us unconditionally! How can we possibly doubt this when God's only son, Jesus Christ, died for us on the cross?
Prayer
Understanding and Loving God, help us to love ourselves just as you see and love us. Let us see the beauty and the good in each person we meet, and love them without reservation. Your love surpasses all our understanding. May I love unconditionally just as You love me. May I be able to see beyond the masks that people put on so that I see the pain, the joy, the embarrassment or other feelings they may be hiding. Amen.
The act of making a pilgrimage – traveling to a sacred place to encounter the divine – is ancient, probably as old as humanity itself. Perhaps the first Christian pilgrimage was that of the Wise Men, men who were not even believers in the Messiah, but who knew that “something” drew them from their homes and studies. Unsure as to what they sought, they found not a someTHING, but a someONE: Christ the Lord.
Reflect, today, upon how willing you are to embrace sacrifice in your own life. No, your sacrifices are not able to save the world by their own merit, but if you face your crosses in life, be they big or small, and if you intentionally and wholeheartedly unite them to the actions of Jesus that first Holy Week, then you can be certain that you will suffer with our Lord. But you can also be certain that your suffering will be transformed by the power of this Holy Week and lead you to a glorious sharing in His triumph over all sin and suffering.
Who doesn’t love a story? Hope, conflict, wonder, desperation, loneliness, surprise, love, a hero. Story seems to be wired into our DNA. We all tell them, and we find many ways to do them.
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