Whose Voice is Guiding Us?

 

Deacon Dave · Whose Voice is Guiding us?

Homily for the 4th Sunday of Easter, April 30, 2023. Gospel of St. John 10:1-10. Theme: Whose Voice Is Guiding Us? 

Today is called Good Shepherd Sunday. I would bet that our typical mental picture of Jesus under this title probably imagines Him in a flowing robe, walking in the midst of His flock and maybe even carrying a lamb in His arms. And while that might be a comforting image to hold in our minds, it’s so very far from what it was like to actually be a shepherd in Jesus’ time. It was difficult and dirty around-the-clock work. Even while he slept, the shepherd was protecting his flock by using his own body as a kind of obstacle, a human gate, laid across the opening to a sheep pen. This is what Jesus was referring to in today’s Gospel when He calls Himself the gate and gatekeeper. It’s a symbol of Jesus literally laying His life down for us. 

But there’s another interesting aspect to shepherding that Jesus mentions in the Gospel today. And that is His voice. You see, sheep learn to recognize the voice of their shepherd and they are able to distinguish between familiar and unfamiliar voices. In addition, they have an acute sense of smell and know the scent of their shepherd. So, this enables them to stay close to the one who protects them from becoming victims of thieves and robbers. So, this might make us wonder…what thieves and robbers is Jesus protecting us from today? Well, the New Testament singles out three main predators of Christ’s sheep and identifies them as the world, the flesh and the devil. Allow me to explain. 

The first on the list is “the world”. Now, when the Bible uses this term it does not mean the planet on which we live. Rather, it refers to an attitude, a way of thinking and living in which God is either explicitly exiled or for all practical purposes simply ignored. It’s a culture in which having a “body beautiful”, making a lot of money, and owning and enjoying the “finer things of life” are considered the real hallmarks of success. This “worldly spirit” doesn’t make room for a meaningful relationship with God as part of the picture. It considers religion and biblical morality as things to be confined to church buildings and a person’s private life. Those who are infected by this spirit of the world advocate that the Gospel of Jesus should not be allowed to have any influence whatsoever upon our laws and politics, upon marriage and sexuality, upon economics, business and education. But we who are His sheep listen instead to the voice of the Good Shepherd, and not to the voice of the world. He tells us, “Be light for the world and salt for the earth…Go out to all the world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature!” 

Next, the Bible identifies ‘the flesh” as one of our predators. What it means by this is what we traditionally call our “fallen human nature” (fallen means weakened by the effects of the original sin of Adam and Eve). Because of this condition we experience tension within ourselves in trying to do good and avoid evil. We have a tendency to be selfish and we find that we must struggle to be intentionally and consistently generous and kind (unless there is something in it for us, of course). Our fallen human nature urges us to do whatever makes us feel good and tells us to satisfy our "natural" desires as long as "no one else gets hurt". It says that the three most important people in life are “me, myself and I”. But the voice of the Good Shepherd protects us from falling into this selfish outlook and urges us to “love God above all else and love your neighbor as you love yourself”. He calls us to “deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Me.” 

Finally, the Bible warns us about the third enemy who stalks us and that is the Devil, aka Satan, whom Jesus called “the father of lies and a murderer from the beginning". He has only one main goal in mind for us and that is to prevent us from reaching Heaven. Motivated by pride and self-worship, he gave up the glory and joy of life with God and consigned himself to eternal darkness and despair. And he wants us to make the exact same choice. He and his demonic minions rarely go after us with a direct hit. Much more slyly, they usually partner with the world and the flesh to accomplish their dirty work. So, we need to stay close to Jesus the Good Shepherd and trust in Him for protection. He admonishes us in Scripture to “be alert, be on watch! Your enemy, the Devil, roams around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Be firm in your faith and resist him.” 

Just as the Good Shepherd has sent out his missionaries to spread the Gospel, so too have these three predators. Their false voices are amplified through the mainstream media who too often act as missionaries of the world, ambassadors of the flesh, and agents of the devil. Their incessant noise pumped into our heads and into our homes wears away at us daily, like erosion along a river bed, weakening our faith bit by bit until it simply crumbles and falls away. Through repeated messaging designed to desensitize us, these thieves and robbers are like cunning wolves set on snatching us away from our Good Shepherd. 

And so we must develop our spiritual hearing so as to recognize the voice of Christ our Good Shepherd. We must deepen our personal trust in Him by spending time with Him, getting to know Him better. Through prayer from the heart and reading the Word of God daily, we can learn to recognize His voice. By worshiping, adoring and receiving Him in the Holy Eucharist we can remain close to the One who lays Himself down as a Gate to protect us from harm. And since Jesus is alive and risen we truly can form and build a real relationship with Him, which is the one thing necessary if we hope to remain safe and sound within the sheep pen of the Church that He has built for us.

Rediscovering Faith on a Dusty Road

 

Deacon Dave · Rediscovering Faith on a Dusty Road

Homily for the 3rd Sunday of Easter, April 23, 2023. The Gospel of St. Luke 24:35-48. Theme: Rediscovering Faith on a Dusty Road 

The story of the two disciples on the dusty road to Emmaus is a reality check reminding us that not everyone was filled with wonder and gladness on the first Easter Sunday. Quite the contrary, Emmaus is the story of disciples who are downcast and confused by reports of an allegedly Risen Christ. They don’t understand how such a thing is possible or even if it could be possible. And so they seem to be giving up and going back to the life they knew before they had ever heard about Jesus of Nazareth. And we can read between the lines that deep down, this really broke their hearts! 

But Emmaus is also the story of how Jesus doesn’t abandon us in times of spiritual confusion and emotional suffering that are a normal part of life. It assures us that He wishes to accompany us on these painful parts of our faith journey just as He does in the happier times. It teaches us that in doing so, however, He doesn’t force Himself into our lives and situations. Notice how Jesus didn’t push his way into the disciples’ company or ask to share their lodging for the night. He gave them the space they needed to make a free personal choice. And the same is true as to how He acts with us today. 

This reminds me of a very famous painting of Jesus that shows Him knocking at the front door of a home. There are actually many versions of it around today. If you look closely, you’ll see that there is no doorknob on the outside. It can only be opened from the inside by the one who lives there. It’s a great visualization about how Jesus respects our freedom. He truly wants to come along with us as we walk through difficulty and suffering, but He waits to be asked and for the door to be opened into our lives. He opens his ears and heart to us, just as He did for those disciples on the road, so that we, too, can ask our questions, express our frustrations, and unburden ourselves. And of course He wants to stay with us just as He did with them, bringing comfort and consolation just by His presence. But He wants all of this to happen on our own terms, so to speak, so that our response to Him will be genuine and free, because freedom is really the only way that true relationships can exist and grow, including our relationship with Christ. 

As they reached the end of their 7-mile journey, the disciples didn’t want to part company from their mysterious Traveling Companion. The way He had explained the Scriptures to them made the smoldering flame of faith begin to burn once again in their hearts. They were beginning to have hope once again. Their disillusionment was diminishing. They sensed that there was something special about this Stranger and so they invited Him to stay and spend the night. And that’s when Christ most marvelously responded to their free choice to open the doors of their hearts to Him. When they sat down together for their evening meal, He took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them. And suddenly… BAM! They recognized Jesus! There He was right in front of them and they were finally filled with joy! And then just as suddenly, he disappeared! Notice most importantly that the Gospel does not say that Jesus left them, only that He was no longer visible to their eyes. That's because He was indeed still there, truly present but now hidden under the appearance of the Eucharistic Bread. 

And this is actually the main point, the central lesson of the Emmaus story. It teaches us that the way we encounter the Risen Christ up close and personal today is through His Real and Abiding Presence in the Eucharist. Christ is as present among us today in this “Breaking of the Bread” (which by the way was the original name for the Mass) as he was for those two disciples on the road to Emmaus. But the question is: do we have the eyes of faith to recognize Him as they did? Hopefully, we do and that’s great! But maybe some of us were never taught the full truth about the Eucharist in the first place. Or maybe for some of us our Eucharistic faith has dimmed or fallen victim to familiarity which can happen so easily with things we get used to in life. If so, then like the two disciples trying to rediscover their faith, we need to turn to the Sacred Scriptures, to the Word of God for enlightenment. 

The Bible clearly tells us that at the Last Supper Jesus intentionally gave us the Eucharist as His parting gift, as his Abiding Presence. All of the Gospels as well as the letters of St. Paul affirm that the bread is changed into the Body of Christ and the wine is transformed into his Precious Blood. Not as just a special symbol of Jesus nor simply as a sacred memory in His honor. But in reality and truth what is placed into our hands at Holy Communion is in actuality the Risen Lord. So every time we go to Mass, we can make the experience of the Emmaus disciples our own by recognizing that Jesus is truly risen from the dead and is really present among us in the Breaking of the Bread.

The Three Easter Gifts of Mercy

 

Deacon Dave · The Three Easter Gifts of Mercy

Homily for the Octave of Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday, April 16, 2023. The Gospel of St. John 20:19-31. Theme: The Three Easter Gifts of Mercy 

In the year 2000, Pope St. John Paul II declared the Second Sunday of Easter to be celebrated as “Divine Mercy Sunday”. He did this to fulfill a request made by Jesus through the spiritual experiences of St. Faustina Kowalska, a 20th century Polish nun and mystic. And so the Scriptures and prayers of our liturgy today proclaim the merciful love of Jesus which is symbolized for us in the image of Divine Mercy that is enshrined in our church and in many of our homes. 

The story opens with the Apostles (minus Thomas) huddled together in a securely locked house. They are filled with fear, terrified that what happened to Jesus was going to happen to them. But I’m sure they were also trapped in their own remorse over how they had abandoned Jesus. They needed to be set free not only physically from that room, but also spiritually from their guilty consciences. Suddenly, the Risen Lord appears in their midst. It’s the first time they’ve seen him since His arrest in the Garden on Holy Thursday. What strikes me most about this Resurrection experience is that Christ doesn’t say so much as one word about how they had treated him. He doesn’t even make the slightest reference to their infidelity and abandonment. Instead, he reaches out to them with words of pardon and peace. 

The story then moves fast forward a week to the Sunday after Easter, to what we now call Divine Mercy Sunday. Jesus suddenly appears among them again but this time Thomas is with them. St. John emphasizes in his Gospel today three things that probably impressed him the most about this event: the uplifting presence of the Risen Jesus, the power emanating from his holy wounds, and the invitation to trust. Pope Francis has called these three things the “Easter gifts of mercy” and he reminds us that these gifts are still offered to each one of us today. 

The first Easter gift of mercy is the uplifting presence of the Risen Lord. Just as nothing stopped Jesus from entering into the locked room, so nothing - not even our worst sins - can prevent him from stepping into our lives. He comes to each one of us just as he came to those guilt-ridden disciples, bringing pardon and peace. He offered them and He now offers us a chance to be healed of sin and freed from fear. This scene is captured for us in the Divine Mercy image which is like a supernatural snapshot of how the Risen Lord appeared on that first Easter night. We can enshrine the image in our homes as a reminder that Christ is always with us. But it is best to enshrine the image on our hearts so that we can bring the Lord’s uplifting presence into the lives of others by our words and deeds of mercy. 

The second Easter gift of mercy are the wounds of Christ. It was the power of these sacred wounds that brought about a conversion within Thomas, as well as in the other apostles, transforming them into firm believers in the Resurrection. And these same glorious wounds are available to us now for our own on-going conversion. They are for us what they were for Thomas and the others: proof of Christ’s deep love for us, a love that poured itself out to the very end. And so these wounds - now risen and glorious - invite us to let go of our guilt, to confess our sins, to accept mercy and experience a renewed life with God. The precious wounds of Jesus, especially the one radiating two rays of light from His pierced heart, are prominent in the image of Divine Mercy so that we will never forget that He considers us worth dying for. 

The third Easter gift of mercy is the invitation to trust in Jesus. This is basically what Jesus asked of Thomas when he said to him “do not be unbelieving, but believe”. You see, in the Bible the words “believe” and “trust” are interchangeable so what Jesus is asking Thomas (and us) is to trust in Him. As you probably know, history has given Thomas the unfortunate nickname of "Doubting Thomas” which I think is really quite an unfair assessment of the man. All of the others also doubted the holy women when they came back from the Empty Tomb on Easter morning with news of the Resurrection! But Thomas grew to become strong in faith and as a result he went out as a missionary all the way to India, traveling the farthest away from Jerusalem than any other apostle. This shows us what amazing and positive changes can happen in our lives by trusting in Christ who strengthens us! 

The presence of the Risen Jesus to encourage us, the power of His sacred wounds to enliven us, and trusting in Christ Who strengthens us, all sum up both the message of Easter, and that of Divine Mercy Sunday. These three mercy gifts from God can totally transform us and enable us to become the persons he created each one of us to be. This was the experience of St. Thomas, and it’s also meant to be our experience as we continue on with our journey through life hand-in-hand with Jesus, our Risen Lord, God and Savior.

The Mystery & The Message of the Empty Tomb

 

Deacon Dave · The Mystery & The Message of the Empty Tomb

Homily for Easter Sunday, the Resurrection of the Lord, April 9, 2023. The Gospel of St. John 20:1-9. Theme: The Mystery and Message of the Empty Tomb 

There’s a powerful realism to the news of an Empty Tomb. It’s certainly not the way to begin a make-believe story that was created in order to elevate the status of the Lord’s apostles and give Christianity credibility, as unbelievers suggest. And if the alleged myth-makers were indeed trying to pull off a fast one, as we say, then they made a couple of huge mistakes right from the beginning. First, they present the apostles as being rather dumb and clueless. Upon encountering the mystery of the Empty Tomb they just kind of scratch their heads in confusion. And some of them, at first, outright refuse to believe. And they would’ve made another huge mistake in having it be a woman who first discovers the Empty Tomb. Because, you see, in ancient Middle-Eastern culture a woman’s testimony was considered to be totally unreliable. It had no credibility behind it whatsoever. 

And yet the Gospel of the Resurrection starts off with these two huge mistakes, so to speak, because that's exactly the way it happened. It was a solitary woman, Mary Magdalene, who first discovered the Empty Tomb. We all know what it’s like to receive unexpected shocking news, so imagine her panic and anxiety! She loved Jesus with all her heart and had faithfully stood at His cross to the bitter end. And afterwards, she sat across from the Lord’s tomb on Good Friday afternoon, not wanting to go home and begin life without Him. When she saw the stone rolled away from the entrance to the tomb, she initially drew a natural conclusion based on logic. She assumed that the grave had been violated and the body stolen and so she ran quickly to look for help and share the devastating news with the apostles. 

Many people today draw the same conclusion. They figure that there has to be a natural explanation as to why the tomb was empty and so the obvious answer to them is that someone stole the corpse of Christ. But if this was so, then we must ask…who did it? The Romans? Highly unlikely since they were the ones who carried out the bloody crucifixion and had no vested interest in staging a fake resurrection. The Jewish Leaders? If so, they could have produced the corpse for all to see and put an end to Christianity with its myth of Resurrection right at its beginning. Then, perhaps it was some of the Disciples? Hardly so. They were locked away in hiding, afraid to be identified as the companions of the One Who had been publicly executed as a blasphemer by the Jews and a traitor by the Romans. And even if some of them dared to do so, how in the world would they have overcome the heavily armed Roman soldiers standing guard at the tomb? 

But today’s Gospel shows us that there is also another answer to the Empty Tomb besides thievery. It’s a response that brings us from the logic of unbelief to faith in a mystery. As soon as Mary Magdalene made her discovery known to both Peter and John, they immediately ran to the tomb. The beloved disciple John peered into the rocky cavern, saw the empty resting place along with the rolled up burial linens and believed. His faith was based on what he saw with his own eyes, though he did not understand how it could have happened. And after the two disciples left the tomb, Mary Magdalene would experience her own leap from logic to faith. Part of the story that we do not hear at today’s Liturgy informs us that she took another look into the tomb. However, this time she experienced something different. She heard a familiar voice and turned around. The Risen Lord was standing behind her, calling her by name! 

Though we live two millennia after the Resurrection, the spiritual challenge to belief or disbelief remains the same. Now as back then, each one of us must make a personal response to the Empty Tomb based on the evidence. Mary and John stand as powerful eye-witnesses for us to the fact that Jesus of Nazareth was crucified for they were both with him when he hung upon the cross. They are powerful eye-witnesses to the fact that he indeed died and was laid to rest, for they were both there at his burial. And they are powerful eye-witnesses to us of the fact that there was an Empty Tomb on that first Easter morning as we just heard in today’s Gospel. And in addition to Mary and John, we also have the documented eye-witness experiences of many others who had personal encounters with the Risen Christ. They saw him. They touched him. They spoke with him and ate with him. They affirmed that He was neither a ghost nor a hallucination. It was Jesus of Nazareth, alive again and glorious! 

But not everyone believes that Jesus has, in fact, overcome death and provides us with the only way to eternal life. For them Easter remains nothing more than a myth or a fanciful story. They are stuck at the level of logic, unwilling to acknowledge the possibility of faith in a mystery; unwilling to go beyond what they themselves can see and know. And sadly, this kind of response to the Empty Tomb leaves them trapped in the bondage of their sins, causing them to expend energy in their lives trying to escape the inescapable reality of their mortality. 

But then there are those who like the beloved disciple John, encounter the reality of the Empty Tomb and believe that something more has happened even if they don’t understand how. These people have examined the evidence and accepted its conclusion. They become changed on the inside. They become different. They are open to the possibility of the supernatural and can never go back to where they were before they made that all-important step from logic to mystery, from doubt to faith. They now have hope for the future. They now experience the peace of heart that comes from knowing that their sins are forgiven. And they are filled with an interior spiritual joy that no one can take from them, all because of the mystery and message of an Empty Tomb that was discovered in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago.

The Transforming Power of the Cross

 

Deacon Dave · The Transforming Power of the Cross

Good Friday Homily: The Transforming Power of the Cross 

At the Last Supper on Holy Thursday night, Jesus gave us the great commandment of love. More specifically, He told us to live out this commandment by following His example and Good Friday shows us this example in a very powerful way. While nailed to the cross, Jesus forgave those who were in the act of killing Him. In the midst of struggling to breathe, He spoke words of mercy to the repentant thief crucified next to Him. While undergoing the torments of His Passion, Christ did not focus on His own suffering but thought of the good of others. 

But Jesus gave us more than just his example on Good Friday. He also gave us a way to love as he loves by infusing the cross with the power of His grace. By doing so, He transformed a tool of torture into a holy and life-giving instrument. And He can infuse this same spiritual power into the crosses that come into our own lives. By intentionally uniting our own sufferings, struggles and difficulties to His cross and passion, we can transform them into channels of grace and blessings for ourselves and others. Christians throughout the ages have learned of this power of the cross and through it have loved as Jesus loves even in the most difficult of situations. And each one of us can do the same if we choose to embrace the cross and not curse it. 

Mark Tianxiang was a Chinese physician and an active member of his parish. He was well respected as a doctor, married with children, and was known for his kindness and generosity in treating patients. However, easy access to pain medication proved to be too tempting for him and he gradually became a frequent user of opiates. Before long he became a full-blown addict. As his addiction spiraled downward his fellow parishioners shunned him and his pastor refused to hear his confessions or give him Holy Communion. Eventually he was even denied admittance into the parish church. You see, they knew nothing about the physiological and spiritual disease of addiction but were going by the widely held belief of the time that it was simply a matter of personal choice. 

But Mark did not hold this against them. And he did his best despite the addiction to maintain his relationship with Christ. He knew the genuineness of his faith even if his addiction hid it from the others. At the same time, he also knew the reality of the fierce battle going on within himself. He had moments, even stretches at a time, of sobriety but these were quickly followed by relapse. He just couldn't seem to beat the cycle of addiction. But he never stopped trying. He consciously united his pain, his struggles and even his falls to the Cross and Passion of Christ, for he knew that Jesus accepts all that we offer as long as it is offered out of love. 

Amazingly, despite how his parish treated him, Mark did not give up. Every Sunday he could be found outside the parish church, humbly kneeling at its door, begging for prayers as the people entered to attend Mass. And he would remain there, joining in their worship from afar, shunned as an outcast. This went on without fail, Sunday after Sunday, for 30 years. Inspired by the example of Jesus, he never threw insults back at those who condemned him and he forgave those who stepped around him as they entered the parish church. He simply kept trusting in God, confident that one day he would be set free by the transforming power of the Cross. That day finally arrived but in a way he never imagined. It was the summer of 1900 and Mark was about 60 years old. 

The Chinese government had begun a fierce persecution of Catholics. The parishioners of Mark's village were all summoned to the church, arrested and condemned to death. Of course Mark was not included because his name had long before been removed from the parish list. But suddenly, the main doors swung open and guess who began walking up the center aisle? It was Mark finally gaining admittance into his beloved parish church after 30 years. He approached the officer in charge of execution and declared, “I am one of them. If you take them, then you must also take me.” And then amazingly, he asked for permission to die last of all. 

Why did he make this request? According to surviving witnesses, it was to make sure that each one of his fellow parishioners who had shunned him would not die without someone who cared at their side. No matter how they had treated him for half of his life, he did not want a single one of them to face death alone and afraid. Like his Lord Jesus, Mark freely gave himself up for the sake of those he loved. Who would have ever thought that the parish outcast and village drug addict would turn out to be the one who would become a most amazing reflection of Jesus Christ? That’s the power of the cross of Good Friday! That’s how the transforming power of the Cross can cut through whatever sufferings, struggles and difficulties we might have to endure and enable us to love as Jesus loved, even to the very end.

The Message of Palm Sunday

 

Deacon Dave · The Message of the Palms

Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion, April 2, 2023. Gospel of St. Matthew 21:1-11 (Procession) and 26:14-27:66 (Passion). Theme: The Message of Palm Sunday 

Palm Sunday is unique among our liturgies for two reasons, one of which is that the Gospel is proclaimed two times instead of just once. The first sets the scene for what is to unfold before us during Holy Week while the second jumps ahead to the first Good Friday, giving us a kind of preview and preparation for the greatest events that took place in human history. And this is why, also unlike most of our liturgies, today’s commemoration has a double name as well as a double Gospel: Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion. This double name reminds us that the palms we bless, distribute and then carry in procession today point us to Good Friday. They also can teach us three things about ourselves as we enter upon this most Holy Week. 

First, Palm Sunday shows us that we are fickle, so often living as “fair-weather friends” of God. It’s so very easy for us to judge and condemn the cheering crowds of Palm Sunday who then turned on Jesus just a few days later, calling for his crucifixion. They wanted a Messiah who would defeat the Romans and bring autonomy to Israel. So when Jesus was arrested and taken captive by their oppressors, they saw their hopes trashed and they turned on Him. He wasn’t the kind of Savior they wanted. And yet…before we point a finger at them…we have to stop and examine our own attitudes towards Jesus. Have I ever shaken a fist at God, like the people in that crowd, because he wasn’t acting like the kind of Savior I expected and wanted Him to be in my life? And so, we have to ask ourselves quite honestly if we also see in Him only what we want to see for our benefit? 

Secondly, Palm Sunday makes us participants in the Passion. This is why we read the gospel in parts with the congregation representing the cheering (and then condemning) crowds of Jerusalem. The various characters of the Passion are not just historical figures of the past but they include us! And like them, we have also called for the crucifixion of Christ, not with our lips but choices made in our lives. The history of each one of us shows that there have been times when we have betrayed Jesus with Judas; we have denied Him with Peter; and we have abandoned Him along with the other disciples. Every one of us can relate to Pilate’s cowardice in caving into social pressure and choosing popularity over doing what was right. Palm Sunday reminds us that we are people of the Passion because our sins we have contributed to the suffering and death of the Lord. 

Thirdly, Palm Sunday is a proclamation of Jesus’ ultimate victory. Despite the fickleness of our hearts and the litany of our sins, Christ died for us. And not just for “us” as in the cumulative sense of the human race. But individually and personally, for each one of us, as if you or I were the only ones in the whole universe who were in need of salvation! And on top of all that, while struggling to breathe on the cross, He asked God the Father to forgive us because we truly do not realize what we are doing when we choose to sin. And so the palms we hold in our hands and carry in procession today are a sign of the victory of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The victory of love over hatred; the victory of grace over sin; the victory of forgiveness over condemnation; the victory of eternal life over everlasting death. 

So when we bring our palms home and put them behind our crucifixes - or wherever you display yours during the Easter Season- let them be a silent but powerful reminder about the message they convey. Let them assure us that despite our fickleness and our failures; despite our part in contributing to His Passion, Jesus shows us in an unmistakable way that selfless love is the very nature of God. He calls each one of us to believe this and trust in Him with all our hearts. To withhold this trust wounds His Heart which was pierced through for us in His Passion. Christ wants us to go forward into the bittersweet days of Holy Thursday and Good Friday never forgetting that it brought Him - and will bring us - to the victory, glory and praise of Resurrection!