No matter what our vocation, if we are given the good fortune of arising to another day, God has work for us to do, for Him. Borne of the love Jesus has for us, He desperately desires to equip us with the fruits necessary to serve Him in the gift of another day.
Imagine that each morning we arise, we are holding a bag that is utterly empty. This is the beginning of each day for us. Only through prayer, which is quiet, meditative time with Him, is He able to equip us with the fruits needed to serve Him each day. As Blessed Mother Teresa expressed, “In the silence of the heart God speaks. If you face God in prayer and silence, God will speak to you.” Therefore, in the quiet He waits, patiently and lovingly, each day with the fruits we require to serve Him throughout the day. This time with Him can be as little as fifteen minutes each day.
Now imagine as we are spending this quiet time with Him, He lovingly fills our bag with beautiful fruit, to overflowing. This fruit is the exact amount required for our service to Him for this new day. Again, no matter our vocation, we were given the gift of another day to serve Him, through those He has placed on our path, and we now have the fruit to do so. Whether we are to allow Him to shine through us at the office, settle a dispute, encourage a patient, assist a student who is struggling, endure a manager who is unable to show love because he or she is hurting, pay for somebody’s late fee at the library, support a friend who has lost a loved one, suffer for offenses against Jesus, lead a parish family closer to Jesus, pray for those who are separated from Him, bring a meal to a new mom, wipe a runny nose, change a diaper (or twelve), or be truly present to our children, we have been given the exact amount of fruit required to serve Him in this gift of a day.
Today at Mass, our Pastor illustrated that Jesus was often exhausted from tirelessly serving. He healed, forgave, fed, prayed, taught, suffered, endured and loved. Jesus was so exhausted for love us that He was able to sleep in the midst of a terrible storm on the Sea.
This is the visual we are to use in our service to Him. As Blessed Mother Teresa expressed, “Give until it hurts.” As our day comes to a close, our bag is to be completely empty, having given back to Him all the fruit He gave to us, to sustain us as we navigated another day.
Each person we encounter is an opportunity to allow Jesus to love through us. This is the fruit. Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.' (MT 25:40 NASB)
Jesus’ life, His Passion in particular, is the perfect example; teaching us to empty ourselves for love of God and man. Beginning His passion, He was beautiful, unblemished, and filled with the fruit that would be our salvation, His love.
His Passion began at the Last Supper, where He humbled Himself by promising to remain with us in the Eucharist. Jesus teaches, “While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is My body. And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins." (Mark 26:26 - 28 NASB) "For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink." (John 6:55 NASB)
Following the Last Supper, Jesus, in the Garden of Gethsemane, praying and making reparation, offered Himself to the Father for our salvation. He emptied Himself of is Precious Blood, through His sweat, which ran down into the ground, “giving blood for offenses, life for death.” 1
Next, He emptied Himself of more of His Precious Blood as He was mercilessly scourged, crowned, and given the Cross, the symbol of His love for us, further consuming the fruit of His love.
This is the visual we are to use in our service to Him. As Blessed Mother Teresa expressed, “Give until it hurts.” As our day comes to a close, our bag is to be completely empty, having given back to Him all the fruit He gave to us, to sustain us as we navigated another day.
Each person we encounter is an opportunity to allow Jesus to love through us. This is the fruit. Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.' (MT 25:40 NASB)
Jesus’ life, His Passion in particular, is the perfect example; teaching us to empty ourselves for love of God and man. Beginning His passion, He was beautiful, unblemished, and filled with the fruit that would be our salvation, His love.
His Passion began at the Last Supper, where He humbled Himself by promising to remain with us in the Eucharist. Jesus teaches, “While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is My body. And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins." (Mark 26:26 - 28 NASB) "For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink." (John 6:55 NASB)
Following the Last Supper, Jesus, in the Garden of Gethsemane, praying and making reparation, offered Himself to the Father for our salvation. He emptied Himself of is Precious Blood, through His sweat, which ran down into the ground, “giving blood for offenses, life for death.” 1
Next, He emptied Himself of more of His Precious Blood as He was mercilessly scourged, crowned, and given the Cross, the symbol of His love for us, further consuming the fruit of His love.
Finally, it appeared He had no fruit left to give, after suffering for us, giving us forgiveness, His Mother, and the promise of eternity with Him in Heaven, they pierced His side from which He was completely emptied. He gave us everything He had to give. His bag was completely empty, for love of us.
Let us thank Him for the gift of another day, by meeting Him in quiet, meditative prayer, where He can give us His fruit - the fruit we need to serve Him, through those He has placed on our path.
Sources
1 – Hours of the Passion - http://www.passioiesus.org/en/horasdelapasion/hp05_8a9pm.htm
The inspiration for this post was from Jesus, through my friend Susanne.
All For +JMJ+
Hello friend, thank you for spreading the Word of God.
ReplyDeleteAre you interested in speaking about your work on a Catholic podcast?
The Source and Summit Podcast is an open podium for Catholics to share their love for the Church.
Through the technology on our website you can record your item for the show.
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Peace be with you, Marvin Max.
Marvin,
DeleteThank you for stopping by! I will prayerfully consider doing this. I checked out the site. Great job on helping to bring Christ through yet another channel to His sheep! :)