Though
in the form of God, Jesus did not claim equality with God but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave, human like one of us.
Flesh
and blood, he humbled himself, obeying to the death, death on a cross.
For this very reason God lifted him high and gave him the name above all names.
So
at the name of Jesus every knee will bend in heaven, on earth, and in the world
below, and every tongue exclaim to the glory of God the Father, “Jesus Christ
is Lord.”
Phil.
2:6-11
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Follow the light.org Jesus Reads Hearts |
Yesterday we celebrated
‘Christ the King.’ The gospel was the
story of the good thief; a snapshot of one of God’s masterpieces. Jesus, God made man, is dying on the cross
and he extends to the good thief love, mercy, Paradise. Obviously, Jesus saw in the thief’s heart a
masterpiece in the making: the good thief was a work in process even until his
last breath.
That is good news for us as we stumble and mumble
our way through life. We are a work in
process on our way to being God’s masterpiece. We do the best we can with all our gifts and
gaffes, talents and tendencies. And then God puts on the finishing touches and
we become a work of art.
In less than a week from today, the liturgical year begins
with the First Sunday of Advent: a time
of beautiful symbolism and readings as we light a candle and await the comings
of our God. Ironically, the gospel
reading for the First Sunday of Advent is from Matthew and talks about staying
awake so a thief may not break into your house.
How would it be if we stayed awake so we could be
ready for the Thief of Hearts, Jesus, when he breaks into our hearts! Instead of stealing from us Jesus, the Thief
of Hearts would bestow on us love, mercy. And we would become God’s masterpiece – a
shining example of God’s salvific love for all humankind!
It could happen now; it could happen, like the good
thief, on our last breath. Whenever, or
however, it happens, we can take comfort in the fact that we are a work in
process; a work of art not to be hidden away but seen and experienced by all
around us. Even the masterpieces
Celeste and Alphonsus, who seemed to have been blessed from an early age as
manifesting the work of art that they were during their lifetime, were works in
process. As Redemptoristines, living in
our own time and place, we are called to radiate the spirit of love and mercy
by giving witness to the Risen Christ.
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Your Face |
The
finishing touch to Jesus life was his resurrection. The finishing touch on the good thief’s life
was encountering Jesus’ love and mercy, and entering Paradise. What will our finishing touches be? What will be our future? God knows.
So, let us stay awake as we await the Thief of Hearts and see what
finishing touches God has in store for us as a masterpiece in process on our
way to Paradise.