theROCK

Enduring our Cross

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How are you all doing out there? Me? Well, words do not exist for what I am feeling. I simply can’t put a finger on just the right adjective. I guess the closest would be brokenhearted. My cup gets filled by the kids and the teachers. Their worlds of instruction and learning are going on, persevering in their studies, undoubtedly doing amazing and wonderful things, and I can’t see nor hear them. I did not sign up to be a principal of a virtual school. I need people. I need kids. I need the Knights!

Last week, I was talking about how this experience is supposed to be teaching us something. I am learning a lot about myself as a child of God and as a servant to His people. I have always known that I am not perfect, but I am learning how truly imperfect I am. Therefore, I am making a change to my Lenten sacrifice for the remainder of the season and into the Triduum. This is all a level of suffering that is helping me to identify with my Lord and His Blessed Mother.

Mary, my mother, your heart desires to alleviate suffering. Help me first to offer my suffering to the Lord so I may find peace from what afflicts me. Then help me see the suffering of others and give me the desire to alleviate that suffering just as you desire to alleviate it yourself. Amen (A Heart Like Mary’s: 31 Daily Meditations to Help You Live and Love as She Does, p. 107)

Each of us are carrying a cross right now, it is our job to recognize  that and be empathetic toward it. I am working to be vigilant for how God is moving among us so that I don't lose sight of Him. Places I would usually find Him are gone or hidden from me. I am left looking for it in the words that come across my screen or through my family. One must be vigilant toward looking for it to see it. A Knight is vigilant. God is good, all the time! All the time, God is good! Good will come from all of this. Good is occurring.

In times of trial, it is imperative that we strive to find hope and bring hope. As an Easter people, this is what our faith depends on. Hope. Hope is trusting in God’s loving plan with our hearts set on the goal of heaven. To lose hope is to lose God. Don’t lose hope.

in Faith

Until the End of the World

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If you have ever experienced the death of a loved one, you can appreciate what the apostles went through during Jesus’s crucifixion and death.

There you are, watching your dearest friend suffer the most horrific of deaths. You see his body taken down from the cross, all mangled, bloody, and cold, and placed in the arms of his mother. You watch as they wrap the body loosely in cloth, binding the body separate from the head, and place it in a tomb. You say your farewells quickly as the Sabbath is approaching and watch as the tomb is closed.

And then it begins – the sorrow, the ache, the emptiness. You go and seek the solace from the others. You share stories. You cry. You wonder what you will do now. You do this for three days.

Then one day, when you are all together, you all hear of this amazing news that a woman from the group has seen Jesus, you are held in disbelief. Disbelief until He is there before you. The rapture! The joy! The glory! You touch Him, you hug Him, you talk with Him, you eat with Him, you have time with Him.

For 40 days you get bonus time with Him, He whom you thought was dead! He encourages you to go out and tell the story. All the while, He is reminding you that one day He will ascend to the right hand of the Father. When Jesus does ascend into heaven, he says the following:

Full authority has been given to me both in heaven and on earth; go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations. Baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Teach them to carry out everything I have commanded you. And know that I am with you always, until the end of the world.” (Mk 28:18-20)

So know that Jesus does not ever leave. He is with us always. He is there loving you, encouraging you, and guiding you. You need only engage it to reap the graces from it.

Didymus

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I love Doubting Thomas! He’s one of my favorite saints, because he’s just so relatable. We often use his title as a negative thing, perhaps calling someone a “Doubting Thomas.” Really, he is just like you and me. Thomas put his heart and soul into Jesus, followed Him for three years, and gave away everything to be His disciple. Then what happened? Jesus was killed and laid dead in the tomb. Thomas’s heart was shattered.

So many events happen in our lives that shatter our hearts and which cause us to put up walls to protect ourselves. Like if we burn our hand on a hot stove—we make sure to be more careful the next time. Thomas got burned once, so he was not going to blindly believe and get burned again.  However, when Jesus appeared to him and showed Thomas his hands, feet, and side, what was his response? Thomas fell to the ground and cried out “My Lord and my God!” He simply believed.

Jesus says, blessed are those who believe and have not seen. True, we have not seen him like the disciples did in the upper room. However, we have seen the risen Jesus in many ways. In particular, we receive Jesus in the Eucharist.  Every time Jesus is placed in our hands, we should be filled with joy and be reminded of just how much Jesus loves each one of us.

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