These last three years
we have been true wayfarers along with Jesus, the Wayfarer. A wayfarer is someone who has traveled,
journeyed. We have all definitely done
that in the last three years by literally moving from Esopus to West Park to
Beacon and three sisters to assisted
living at Meadowview, and then to
Lourdes. Now recently, Sr. Mary made her final journey to heaven. Communally, we
wayfared by way of transitioning, regressing, accepting and continually growing
into our new reality.
When I look at this
picture of the Wayfarer, I see it as Jesus welcoming each of us with open
arms. Jesus is ever ready to shepherd
and guide us, protect and bless us. To me it looks like he is about to
place his hands around my shoulder, and on the shoulder of whoever is on the
other side: you, you, you…each one of you. That made me think of a yoke; as in
Jesus saying, ‘Come to me all who labor
and are heavy burdened, and I will give
you rest, take up my yoke and learn for me, for I am gentle and humble of
heart.’ Mt. 11:28
On reflecting on the image of the
yoke (a curved piece of wood that fits over the shoulders of two draft animals
so they can work together) I thought that is what Jesus is like: He is the yoke
that holds us together and guides our lives in a gentle manner; not by force
but by love and an invitation to journey with him.
This invitation to journey with the
Wayfarer didn’t intimidate our Foundress, Ven. Maria Celeste Crostarosa. We know this aspect of Jesus as Wayfarer
inspired Celeste to give her all and follow the one she loved throughout her
life.
In our day, Jesus the Wayfarer travels
the road of life with us. United by love,
our love for God, our Redemptoristine life and each other, we journey together
with Jesus regardless of our human differences that occasionally trip us
up. Strengthened by the grace-filled
yoke of Jesus we rise to be our better selves and continue our journey sure in
the knowledge that the Wayfarer will always be by our side.
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