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10 minutes with Jesus. Today: Hard times

by 10 Minutes with Jesus

10 minutes wih Jesus are group of Catholic priests who share friendship with Jesus, plus keenness to help young people of all ages to learn the art of loving Jesus and speaking to Him. You can find them in WhatsApp, Spotify, Ivoox, Telegram, Goggle Podcasts and Apple Podcast. Every saturday, we are going to share one meditation by 10 minutes with Jesus. Enjoy it.

My Lord, my God. I firmly believe that you are here; that you see me: that you hear me I adore you with profound reverence.  I ask your pardon for my sins and the grace to make this time of Prayer. My Immaculate mother, St. Joseph, my father and Lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me.

Strange days

Today is the strange feast March 25th the Feast of the Annunciation. We’re living lent were trying to spend time with you Lord Jesus in the desert and we’re looking ahead to your passion to the South or conclusion of your mission on earth and yet surprisingly strangely the church today takes us back to the very beginning of your mission, to the joy of your conception in Our Lady’s work. Why does the church do that what’s the meaning here? Obviously a one-level there’s a logic a clear logic, because this is 9 months exactly 9 months before Christmas, December the 25th. So 9 months conception beforehand but still it’s a mystery a strange feast, strange times. Perhaps these strange times can help us to understand the sense of this face, because somehow this face teaches us that God does not watch our sufferings from a far the pagan gods the false gods well they were a tricky bunch. Whatever, they were Greek gods or Norse gods or Roman gods or Hindu gods you can never quite trust them you never knew. If the gods might play a trick on you sometimes then seemed favorable sometimes not you could never really trust the pagan gods. But you, my friend, might say to me well can we really trust the true: God he’s making us suffer so many people I know are suffering, so much, people can find in their houses, people who have lost loved ones the fear of the elderly.

In my Country

Just in my own country the bishops have had to make the decision to cancel public mass from today.  I know many of you have been living through that for quite a while already the suffering of not having a mass. The very food that we need the Eucharistic. You seem to be depriving us just when we need that nourishment and yet somehow today’s feast gives us something like an answer we won’t find a theoretical explanation of suffering in the Bible. The book of Job in the Old Testament takes us something along the way but really it’s only half an answer. It tells us that we can’t know God’s plans we can’t know God’s mind. It’s the big pictures beyond us and yet Jesus in the Gospels, in your life, you give us a much better answer because it’s not an answer through explanation not a theoretical answer it’s an answer through suffering, through sharing you don’t give us a treatise on suffering you come to share our suffering. Jesus you suffered from the start. You were born in poverty in Bethlehem in a stable. You had fear around you from the beginning, having to flee from Herod. You entered our sin ridden our disease ridden world. I love the episode from the Gospel of Matthew when Matthew tells us about your cures that evening they brought to him many who were possessed with demons and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. But then Matthew gives us this wonderful commentary by quoting from the prophet Isaiah was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah he took our infirmities and bore our diseases.

Our diseases

Jesus you took our infirmities.  You bore our diseases. You took them on yourself above all the disease of sin, which you took upon yourself on the cross. Saint Paul wrote to the Corinthians God made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf so that we might become the righteousness of God. You bore our sin Jesus. You bore our spiritual diseases now did our Lord ever get colds or flus or fevers or sweats. We don’t know the Gospels don’t tell us. We certainly know that he sweat blood in the agony in the garden. Jesus you took upon yourself all our suffering. You are with us. You are God with us. This is the message of the Annunciation. There’s that moment when we see you taking the fever from Simon’s mother-in-law. Now, some of you listening might be saying why doesn’t he do that for me?. Why doesn’t he take the fever for me or why doesn’t he take the fever the coronavirus from my loved one, who perhaps is that great risk? Jesus you are inviting us to share your sweat, to share your suffering as a result of sin to help you save the world to be Kolja Dimas. Even in our Ference are sort of suffering with others Christ lived in hardship. He lived in hunger. He lived in fear, having to flee, having to leave everything to go to Egypt traveling always light as an adult going from one town to the next. You know. They aware of the hardships that so many are going through people losing their jobs or having a drastic salary cuts with a great worries for their family.

The Family

How can I maintain my family, my loved ones or your business is at risk? Jesus may we trust in you. I think of the Holy Family in great hardships. Their strength was unity around Jesus. Mary said yes at the Annunciation. She rose to the challenge. She rose to that great mission that God was offering her. We see Joseph saying yes again and again, always each time he could lose Mary, when she was suddenly pregnant or he found her pregnant and he wanted to do the most honorable thing. He rose to the challenge there and then when the angel explained the reason well he wasn’t afraid to take her as wife’s and then fly into Egypt then back to Israel again and again. Joseph, you rose to the challenge, these two feasts so close, together the feast of Saint Joseph on the 19th of March, the Annunciation on the 25th, point to us to these two giants of holiness. The two most holy men and women after. Jesus we know that Mary’s yes and the Annunciation took her to the cross yes and again and again her yes her fears and Joseph’s constant yes, rising to the challenge. We don’t see them panicking. We do see them saying yes again and again. We’re saying these days a lot of courage and a lot of cowardice. A lot of faith and a lot of panic. A lot of generosity and a lot of selfish. People panicked by him but others being so generous flyer came through my door. The other day a local initiative of a local people to take care of the elderly and the isolated. If they can’t get out to get food or need help, here’s a number to me.

I heard about….

I heard about the wonderful carriage of sad story but a beautiful story of a retired doctor in northern Italy who went back to work to help out at the place where he’d been a junior doctor. He caught the virus and died. He must have known that was possible. I heard about a priest hearing drive through confessions sitting in a car park. The cars drive funny here’s their confession. The virus is bringing out sanctity and faith and generosity but also meanness somehow rising to the challenge, some are shrinking where dowe stand yes lots of prudence. We don’t have a reckless carriage that puts others in danger but lots of faith than generosity to wind for thus when that thrust mother Mary win that for us. St. Joseph and what a chance to evangelize giving doctrine so many wonderful initiatives are already arising people life streaming talks and masses and meditations and all sorts of interesting posts. Maybe Lord God you took the math from us because we didn’t appreciate it enough people were receiving Communion when they shouldn’t this is a great chance to catechized to explain the mass. So when it comes back, people will understand it more and value it more. So the Annunciation talks of our God, our God with us. God Emmanuel entering our disease zone entering our war zone, our sins. It talked to us of God’s courage, Christ’s courage, Mary’s courage, Joseph’s courage. God with us in our difficulties, in our weakness, in our fears. I repeat: He took our infirmities and bore our diseases. Holy Mother thrust your courage to say yes to God again and again, not just in the joy of excitement as at Nazareth but also at the foot of the cross, when everything seemed to be falling apart and when there was darkness over the whole land.

It´s the end

Thank you my God for the good resolution, affections and inspirations that you have communicated to me in this meditation. I ask your help to put them into effect. My Immaculate Mother, Saint Joseph, my father and  Lord,  my  guardian angelintercede for me.

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