It has been a special Holy Week for me as I prepared for a family vacation in Taipei. For it will be the first time in decades that all my brothers and I will gather together in another country with my mother (sadly without my father, but with the wonderful addition of my sister-in-law) on vacation. The last time the entire family was together was probably when I was a teenager.
Amidst the joy of preparing for such a rare celebration of life, the 80 years that my mother will have spent on this earth, come Easter Sunday, I have been trying to prepare my heart for the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus, His death on the cross.
Through the week I have, by chance, met friends and neighbours who each shared their personal stories. What has struck me in their sharing is their great faith that is sustaining them through such difficult times. That even though they live so closely within the shadow of death, the joy of living has not been diminished and their lives have become acts of love and faithfulness.
It reminded me again of what Father Arro had shared with us during his talk on the Stations of the Cross - that amidst all the horrific suffering and humiliation of the Passion, the leifmotif and coda of the whole story is about love.
Love indeed conquers all, including death, and leads us to the new life of the resurrection. That is the reason why love is so sought after by everyone, for it is potent, an elixir of life.
We each crave the love of one special person in our lives, a person who will indeed die for us as they live for us in the good times. This kind of love is one that is not truly found in the peaks of the romantic honeymoon moments, but is mostly forged in the flat prairies of humdrum, everyday life and the rocky valleys of discord, illness, suffering and loss.
Jesus Himself shows us what love is truly about. That love is not just extravagant (having one's feet anointed with costly perfume) or exulting (receiving the affirmation of palm-waving crowds), but excruciating and humiliating as well, as evidenced by the Passion. He did not run away even though He knew what was in store for Him.
True love will require us to sweat blood out of anguish and fear, and yet, if we deem it a worthwhile endeavour, then we will be given the ability to live out the Gethsemane moments of our lives with fortitude and deep hope; to live out our Passion experiences with grace. P and L were proof of that when they spoke to me.
As I spend this Good Friday with my family in Taipei, I would like to pray this psalm, and hope that I will reflect the love of Jesus in some small measure this triduum, even as I can never match the depth of His love for me. I know I can never die for Him as He has died for me:
In you, O LORD, I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
In your justice rescue me.
Into your hands I commend my spirit;
Amidst the joy of preparing for such a rare celebration of life, the 80 years that my mother will have spent on this earth, come Easter Sunday, I have been trying to prepare my heart for the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus, His death on the cross.
Through the week I have, by chance, met friends and neighbours who each shared their personal stories. What has struck me in their sharing is their great faith that is sustaining them through such difficult times. That even though they live so closely within the shadow of death, the joy of living has not been diminished and their lives have become acts of love and faithfulness.
It reminded me again of what Father Arro had shared with us during his talk on the Stations of the Cross - that amidst all the horrific suffering and humiliation of the Passion, the leifmotif and coda of the whole story is about love.
Love indeed conquers all, including death, and leads us to the new life of the resurrection. That is the reason why love is so sought after by everyone, for it is potent, an elixir of life.
We each crave the love of one special person in our lives, a person who will indeed die for us as they live for us in the good times. This kind of love is one that is not truly found in the peaks of the romantic honeymoon moments, but is mostly forged in the flat prairies of humdrum, everyday life and the rocky valleys of discord, illness, suffering and loss.
Jesus Himself shows us what love is truly about. That love is not just extravagant (having one's feet anointed with costly perfume) or exulting (receiving the affirmation of palm-waving crowds), but excruciating and humiliating as well, as evidenced by the Passion. He did not run away even though He knew what was in store for Him.
True love will require us to sweat blood out of anguish and fear, and yet, if we deem it a worthwhile endeavour, then we will be given the ability to live out the Gethsemane moments of our lives with fortitude and deep hope; to live out our Passion experiences with grace. P and L were proof of that when they spoke to me.
As I spend this Good Friday with my family in Taipei, I would like to pray this psalm, and hope that I will reflect the love of Jesus in some small measure this triduum, even as I can never match the depth of His love for me. I know I can never die for Him as He has died for me:
In you, O LORD, I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
In your justice rescue me.
Into your hands I commend my spirit;
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