Jesus
said to his disciples: “The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by
the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third
day be raised.” [Luke
9:22]
Jesus knew
He would suffer greatly, be rejected and killed. How would you deal with that
knowledge if you somehow knew this about your own future? Most people would be
filled with fear and become obsessed with trying to avoid it. But not our Lord.
This passage from Luke’s Gospel above shows just how intent He was on embracing
His Cross with unwavering confidence and courage.
This is just
one of several times that Jesus began to break the news to His disciples about
His pending fate. And each time He spoke
this way, the disciples for the most part remained either silent or in denial. Recall, for example, one such reaction of
Saint Peter when he responded to Jesus’ prediction of His Passion by saying, “God
forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you” [Matthew 16:22].
Too often,
“love” is understood as a strong and good feeling. It’s perceived as an attraction to something
or a strong liking of it. But that’s not
love in the truest form. True love is a
choice to do what is best for another, no matter the cost, no matter how
difficult. True love is not a feeling
that seeks selfish fulfillment. True
love is an unwavering strength that seeks only the good of the person who is
loved.
Jesus’ love
for humanity was so strong that He was driven toward His pending death with great
power. He was unwaveringly determined to sacrifice His life for us all, and
there was nothing that would ever deter Him from that mission.
In our own
lives, it’s easy to lose sight of what true love actually is. We can easily become caught up in our own
selfish desires and think that these desires are love. But they’re not.
Jesus had
the unwavering determination to sacrificially love us all by suffering greatly,
by enduring rejection, and by dying upon the Cross. Nothing could have ever deterred Him from this
love. We must show the same sacrificial
love.
My loving
Lord, I thank You for Your unwavering commitment to sacrifice Yourself for us
all. I thank You for this unfathomable depth of true love. Give me the grace I
need, dear Lord, to turn away from all forms of selfish love so as to imitate
and participate in Your most perfect sacrificial love. I do love You, dear
Lord. Help me to love You and others with all my heart. Jesus, I trust in You.
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