Saying goodbye is not an easy thing to do for many people. I absolutely stink at saying goodbye. Whether it’s a loved one who I won’t see for some time, a friend moving away, or even just leaving a party- I’m awful at saying goodbye even when I know I have to do it. Even harder for me is saying goodbye unexpectedly- I find that I stumble over my words, I’m not able to process what’s happening quickly enough, or I’m completely caught off guard with short notice.

Today’s Gospel reading shows us a little peek at the last night Jesus spent with his Apostles. Now, even though Jesus had been telling his Apostles about his eventual death, they are struggling to realize that the time has come for Jesus to leave them. Jesus tells them that where he is going, they cannot follow…yet. Think about how hard it would be to have to say goodbye to your best friend on such (seemingly) short notice! This was the place where many of the Apostles, and Peter in particular, were on that Holy Thursday night at the Last Supper. 

It’s interesting to think that such strong relationships were built between the Apostles and disciples of Jesus. These men and women followed Jesus around from city to city for three years, learning from him, experiencing everything that came from his ministry. I think it’s so easy for us to not realize the deep human connection that these people had with Jesus Christ. Our relationship with Jesus doesn’t come from the same lens- we don’t get to physically be with him in his bodily form day after day, joking, laughing, touching, and experiencing him in the same way. A lot of times our relationship with him can become mechanic: pray, go to Mass, repeat. 

This Holy Week is a great time to focus in on our relationship with Jesus. Today’s readings can help us ask the question, “would my relationship with Jesus be different if I were there on that Holy Thursday night?” If the answer is yes, find out why! What is keeping us from having the same panicked, scared, anxious reaction to Jesus’ Passion as the Apostles? What needs to change in the way we approach our relationship with Jesus to help us love him as the Apostles did? 

Let today be a chance to not only reflect on these questions, but take the steps we need to in order to deepen our relationship with the Lord.

What would you say to Jesus if you had to say goodbye at the Last Supper?

What does your relationship with Jesus look like right now?

How can you love Jesus more like the Apostles did?

"Jesus, I trust in you."

"I love you, Lord."

"Teach me how to love you more deeply."

Take time today in prayer to place yourself at the Last Supper. Think about what it would have been like and think about how it would change your relationship with the Lord.

“He shall bring forth justice to the nations, not crying out, not shouting, not making his voice heard in the street.”

We seem to see and hear plenty of voices shouting and crying out in the streets these days. And often our natural reaction is to shout or cry out back. Yet, this is not the way of the Kingdom. The way of the Kingdom comes in peace. The way of the Kingdom disarms the shouter and the one crying out by offering an attentive ear to listen to their concerns. This is quite difficult to do when it seems the only way to be heard among amidst the noise and chaos is to shout. Yet, as I was praying with this verse in my own lectio, the Lord kind of turned that practical and narrow-minded thought of mine on its head:

“Sometimes the only way to be heard amidst the noise and chaos is to listen.”

Perhaps this is something for you and I to sit with as we enter into this Holy Week. So often we want to assert ourselves, we want to share our opinion or our experience because it seems more important or more valid or more true than another person's. And perhaps that might be the case sometimes. And perhaps other times it is not. Either way, we have something to learn from listening to the other person who sees things differently than we do. And oftentimes all people want is to be heard- why else would they be crying out? And when we stop to listen and listen with silent reverence without interrupting or interjecting with our own thoughts, we are Christ to them, “we bring forth justice to the nations.” Sometimes our silence allows us to be heard far more loudly than does our shouting out.

Think of one person this week who grinds your gears, or who you find particularly uninteresting, or who you thinks very different than you and hold different beliefs than you do. Seek that person out, engage them in conversation, and then sit in silence and listen. This may be easier for some than others, but I encourage you to give it a try. You would be surprised what type of bridges can be built, what type of justice can be brought forth, by just listening to another. Then, let the Resurrection surprise you with how Christ transforms that small little act of yours into something far greater than you would have ever thought.

What is the difference between hearing and listening? How is the Lord calling you to listen?

Who annoys you? How can you better listen to them?

Life is chaotic. Are you spending time in silence? How can you increase your silent prayer time to listen to the Lord?

"Here I am Lord." 

​"Help me to Listen."

​"Help me be silent."

Today for your fast, don't talk, listen. Fast from responding to someone immediately. Instead of immediately responding, truly listen to what they have to say.

Today, can you also tithe as part of your Lent? Carpe Verbum is only possible through our monthly donors and we appreciate your support. Anyone who becomes a monthly donor will help us plant the seeds of faith for teens across the US and will receive a packet of seeds as a token of our thanks.

Today is Palm Sunday! It's of course the celebration in which Jesus rode on a donkey into the city as people fanned him with Palms saying, 'Hosanna in the highest!' The people were praising Jesus as king. 

In fact, this is how we begin Mass. We begin by reading the Gospel of His entrance into Jerusalem and then the procession of Mass begins as we enter the Heavenly City as well. Yet, later in the Mass, we will hear the entire Passion of Jesus, from His betrayal to His arrest to His crucifixion and death. 

So why such a joyous event mixed in with the tragedy of the cross? Isn't Good Friday at the end of the week? Why the joy with the sorrow? 

Well, we must recognize that today the same people who Praise Jesus as King will then later demand His death, shouting, 'Crucify him!' This is our story too. In one moment we are praising God for who He is and the next we are choosing sin and crucifying Jesus to the cross because it is truly our sins that kill Jesus. We cannot shy away from that fact. We cannot run from the truth that in those moments, the moments of our sin, we reject God.

Now we know that there is good news ahead, for sin and death is not the end! Yet we are not called to fully rejoice in the resurrection until Easter. Now we walk with Christ. Now we recognize our sin. Now we have the choice to walk with Jesus in this Most Holy Week. 

So will you pick up the cross and journey with Him? Will you deeply enter into the mystery of His death so that when Christ does rise you can joyfully Praise Him for your salvation? 

The challenge for you is to not let this week pass you by. Bump up your prayer life this week. Pray at least 30 minutes a day. If possible, attend Mass each day. And, especially important is to attend the Holy Week services. For Jesus Christ does not want to die alone so the question is... Will you die with him? Because the joy of the Christian is that we know that He's not going to stay in that tomb!

How is Jesus calling you specifically this week to enter into His passion and death? How can you truly make the most of this Holy Week?

What are the sins or struggles happening in your life right now of which you need to repent? Have you been to confession this Lent? Do you need to again this Holy Week?

What will your prayer look like this week? What can you add to really make this week Holy?

"Your death is enough."

"Help me enter into Your Passion."

​"I choose to die with You."

​The challenge for you is to not let this week pass you by. Bump up your prayer life this week. Pray at least 30 minutes a day. If possible, attend Mass each day. And, especially important is to attend the Holy Week services. Look at your calendar right now and make room for these things!

​“I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”

How beautiful is this first reading today?! God is so good. God is faithful. In today’s reading He is proclaiming to the Israelites all the good things that He is promising them. Why? “I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” But it’s not just the Israelites who He has chosen. He also chooses us. He loves us and we are His chosen people. 

So far this has been a hard year, and we’re only three months in. I feel stressed, tired, confused. Most of all I feel lost. I am not sure where God is calling me or asking me to do. I feel like I’m wandering. I don’t know what to do, so I place my trust in Him. 

I’m thinking the Israelites must have felt something similar when they were wandering in the desert. Now, years later they still don’t have a home. They have been conquered by one army after another. Life as they had always known it was very different. They didn’t know where they were going and didn’t know where it would end. Time and time again God asked them to trust Him. 

God doesn’t ask us to blindly trust Him. No, God asks us to trust Him because He loves us. Because He has promised us so much, just as He promised the Israelites a new land, promised them that they will remain as one nation, promised them that He will provide. “I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”

God wants to provide for you too. You are His chosen child. God is there is all those moments that you are lost, stressed or confused. God wants to love you, be there with you, just like He has been with people throughout time. The question is, will you choose Him to be your God? 

“I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”

Do you trust that God will provide for you? Why or why not?

Do you believe that He has chosen you? How can you begin to believe this truth more today?

​Will you choose Him to be your God?

"My Lord and my God."

"Jesus, I trust in you."

​"Come Holy Spirit."

Choose God today. Make an intentional decision to put God first today as often as possible.