No Greater Love
This past weekend we entered Holy Week. For me, over the last several years, this most wonderful week of the year has been one of deeper reflection and additional prayer on what we have done in our lives and in our world. This past Sunday we celebrated Palm Sunday and the joyful entrance of the Lord God into 
Jerusalem and now just a few short days later we are here at his Passion and death at our very hands. We hear in the Prophet Isaiah’s words, the Lord God “my servant shall prosper” (Is 52:13). The Lord shows us how to prosper. He has shown us his amazing love and while we are sinners he chose to die for each of us. This is amazing and unconditional love. The Lord knows the plan for each of us since the beginning and he truly desires us to freely return to him. As we continue this week, we will continue our preparations for the Sacred Triduum, leading to the Great Vigil and ultimately to Easter Sunday. As we experience our Holy Week and are being led to our Easter in this time, and in this place. Let us remember, St. Augustine and his treatise on the love that God has for us. He wrote, “The Lord has marked out for us the fullness of love that we ought to have for each other. He tells us: No one has greater love than the man who lays down his life for his friends. In these words, the Lord tells us what the perfect love we should have for one another involves sacrifice" (St. Augustine, Treatise on Love). We see the sacrifice all around us, but most importantly we see the sacrifice God make for us in the Lord’s Passion and Death. Should we not be more willing to sacrifice for those we encounter?
Reflecting and praying on today’s scripture, there were many directions my heart was leading me. Is this not the way for so many of us? One of the big ones is: How can we go from celebrating and welcoming Jesus to leading him to the cross in such a short time? This is where true discernment can happen. We can pray and truly discern where we are being called and guided to better love and serve our brothers and sisters in Christ. We are given so many options in our world, and yet it seems we cannot choose. The Lord is guiding us to choose to better love and have mercy on others. He is calling each of us by name and gently guiding out hearts to love and forgiveness. Live as the Lord God teaches us. “As Christ laid down his life for us, so we in our turn ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters" (St. Augustine, Treatise on Love). Over the past few years, we have come to experience the world quite differently. Thankfully, we are in a time where we can still connect with others from all over the world. We have been able to pray with others and feel the struggles of our neighbors locally as well as across the world. We may have experienced more care and compassion from others, but we have also hopefully, been more compassionate and caring to others too. Are we truly sacrificing ourselves for our brethren? If not, why not?
In the Gospel according to John, we hear that Jesus was troubled because he knew his Passion; his time to redeem us all, was coming soon. We heard last night the savior for all humanity knew he would be betrayed and then handed over to the authorities. Jesus sent Judas forth “and it was night" (Jn 13:30b). This line has always stood out and resounded with me. Notice it says “it was”, not it is or anything to that effect. Here we have Jesus “the light of the world” preparing to enter into the darkness of our humanity. The darkness of our sinfulness, our selfishness, but the Lord is a Lord of mercy and he will reconcile our shortcomings with the Father.
There is an ancient Homily for Holy Saturday in the Office of Readings, which I quote, and pray on every year. It begins, “Something strange is happening-there is great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness…He has gone to search for our first parent, as for a lost sheep…he has gone to free from sorrow the captives Adam and Eve, he who is both God and son of Eve. The Lord approached them bearing the cross, the weapon that had won him victory…He took him by the hand and raised him up, saying: ‘Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.” This is our calling to awake from the slumber in our hearts and to rise with Christ who redeems us all. I feel like this is why we too are called to reach out to others and allow them to be lifted up into the glorious light, which the Lord opens to us to illuminate our very beings.
Perhaps, many of us are still going in various directions and it is necessary for us to enter the night of this Lent. It is a calling for us to reevaluate our priorities. I find comfort in Isaiah’s words today, during this, our dark time that is leading us to our Calvary. In Isaiah we hear, “Though I thought I had toiled in vain, and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength, yet my reward is with the LORD, my recompense is with my God" (Is 49:4). My prayer for each of us is that we are able to love and serve one another and know God is guiding us and he is a merciful and loving God who is calling each of us home. He chose the cross so we might live. No greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. Let us continue to remember that we are God’s chosen ones from the beginning and we are his friends.
Reflecting and praying on today’s scripture, there were many directions my heart was leading me. Is this not the way for so many of us? One of the big ones is: How can we go from celebrating and welcoming Jesus to leading him to the cross in such a short time? This is where true discernment can happen. We can pray and truly discern where we are being called and guided to better love and serve our brothers and sisters in Christ. We are given so many options in our world, and yet it seems we cannot choose. The Lord is guiding us to choose to better love and have mercy on others. He is calling each of us by name and gently guiding out hearts to love and forgiveness. Live as the Lord God teaches us. “As Christ laid down his life for us, so we in our turn ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters" (St. Augustine, Treatise on Love). Over the past few years, we have come to experience the world quite differently. Thankfully, we are in a time where we can still connect with others from all over the world. We have been able to pray with others and feel the struggles of our neighbors locally as well as across the world. We may have experienced more care and compassion from others, but we have also hopefully, been more compassionate and caring to others too. Are we truly sacrificing ourselves for our brethren? If not, why not?
In the Gospel according to John, we hear that Jesus was troubled because he knew his Passion; his time to redeem us all, was coming soon. We heard last night the savior for all humanity knew he would be betrayed and then handed over to the authorities. Jesus sent Judas forth “and it was night" (Jn 13:30b). This line has always stood out and resounded with me. Notice it says “it was”, not it is or anything to that effect. Here we have Jesus “the light of the world” preparing to enter into the darkness of our humanity. The darkness of our sinfulness, our selfishness, but the Lord is a Lord of mercy and he will reconcile our shortcomings with the Father.
There is an ancient Homily for Holy Saturday in the Office of Readings, which I quote, and pray on every year. It begins, “Something strange is happening-there is great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness…He has gone to search for our first parent, as for a lost sheep…he has gone to free from sorrow the captives Adam and Eve, he who is both God and son of Eve. The Lord approached them bearing the cross, the weapon that had won him victory…He took him by the hand and raised him up, saying: ‘Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.” This is our calling to awake from the slumber in our hearts and to rise with Christ who redeems us all. I feel like this is why we too are called to reach out to others and allow them to be lifted up into the glorious light, which the Lord opens to us to illuminate our very beings.
Perhaps, many of us are still going in various directions and it is necessary for us to enter the night of this Lent. It is a calling for us to reevaluate our priorities. I find comfort in Isaiah’s words today, during this, our dark time that is leading us to our Calvary. In Isaiah we hear, “Though I thought I had toiled in vain, and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength, yet my reward is with the LORD, my recompense is with my God" (Is 49:4). My prayer for each of us is that we are able to love and serve one another and know God is guiding us and he is a merciful and loving God who is calling each of us home. He chose the cross so we might live. No greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. Let us continue to remember that we are God’s chosen ones from the beginning and we are his friends.
Author: Chris Knight, English Department
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