8th Station of the Cross

Eighth Station: Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem

  Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem. Those who Jesus counted as close friends are nowhere to be found as He continues to carry His cross. There are those, like the women of Jerusalem who are there as He continues on His journey. 

    Sometimes the people in our lives disappoint us and are not there when we feel they should be there by our side. It is hard for us when this happens and we may become angry and bitter at those people. We expect them to be there because maybe we have been there for them and expect the same in return. It is natural to feel hurt because there is an expectation that you feel has not been fulfilled and that you are not as important to that person. When this happens we need to step back and look at the whole picture.

    The next part of course applies to our own personal relationships and not that of the relationship between Jesus and the apostles. We have to talk to that person and see what happened. Maybe they did not know what was going on? Maybe things were also going on for them that they couldn’t be there? Maybe our expectations are to high for that person? Maybe they may not feel the same way as we do? No matter what one of these questions it involves, there still needs to be a conversation.

     We need to be honest with ourselves and with that person. An open discussion needs to happen so a resolution can happen. It may not be the resolution you expected or wanted. Sometimes people will get caught up in what is going on with them and not see what is going on with others around them. Sometimes people may feel it is not there place to step in or that you do not want them there. Sometimes we expect more from people then what they are able or want to give. It is hard to get over these feelings and answers and sometimes there really is not a resolution that both people can except.  The relationship will change when this happens and it can either get better or worse. It is up to both people to see where they go on from here.

     The same is said when it comes to how God and Jesus are in our lives. We all have disappointed them in our lives. The disappointment comes from and out of the sins we commit. Yet, when we ask for forgiveness we are forgiven and move on from there. We will always be forgiven, as long as we are truly sorry. Think about that when someone disappoints you and they are asking for forgiveness or for you to just move past this and move on. Do not get me wrong and think that every time this happens we need to just forgive and move on with the relationship. Sometimes all we can do is wish a person well and pray for them. Only you can decide for yourself what you feel in your heart and soul is right. 

      

     Disappoints will come in this life. There is nothing that we can do to prevent people from disappointing at times but it is how we handle them that make us who we are. You can forgive and move on with the relationship, forgive and the relationship changes or forgive and go your separate ways. In each of those cases, the act of forgiving is there. 

Until tomorrow, God Bless, and forgive as you would like to be forgiven. 

Friday of the Third Week of Lent
Lectionary: 241

Reading 1

HOS 14:2-10

Thus says the LORD:

Return, O Israel, to the LORD, your God;

you have collapsed through your guilt.

Take with you words,

and return to the LORD;

Say to him, “Forgive all iniquity,

and receive what is good, that we may render

as offerings the bullocks from our stalls.

Assyria will not save us,

nor shall we have horses to mount;

We shall say no more, ‘Our god,’

to the work of our hands;

for in you the orphan finds compassion.”

I will heal their defection, says the LORD,

I will love them freely;

for my wrath is turned away from them.

I will be like the dew for Israel:

he shall blossom like the lily;

He shall strike root like the Lebanon cedar,

and put forth his shoots.

His splendor shall be like the olive tree

and his fragrance like the Lebanon cedar.

Again they shall dwell in his shade

and raise grain;

They shall blossom like the vine,

and his fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon.

Ephraim! What more has he to do with idols?

I have humbled him, but I will prosper him.

“I am like a verdant cypress tree”– 

Because of me you bear fruit!

Let him who is wise understand these things;

let him who is prudent know them.

Straight are the paths of the LORD,

in them the just walk,

but sinners stumble in them.

Responsorial Psalm

PS 81:6C-8A, 8BC-9, 10-11AB, 14 AND 17

R. (see 11 and 9a) I am the Lord your God: hear my voice.

An unfamiliar speech I hear:

“I relieved his shoulder of the burden;

his hands were freed from the basket.

In distress you called, and I rescued you.”

R. I am the Lord your God: hear my voice.

“Unseen, I answered you in thunder;

I tested you at the waters of Meribah.

Hear, my people, and I will admonish you;

O Israel, will you not hear me?”

R. I am the Lord your God: hear my voice.

“There shall be no strange god among you

nor shall you worship any alien god.

I, the LORD, am your God

who led you forth from the land of Egypt.”

R. I am the Lord your God: hear my voice.

“If only my people would hear me,

and Israel walk in my ways,

I would feed them with the best of wheat,

and with honey from the rock I would fill them.”

R. I am the Lord your God: hear my voice.

Gospel

MK 12:28-34

One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him,

“Which is the first of all the commandments?”

Jesus replied, “The first is this:

Hear, O Israel!

The Lord our God is Lord alone!

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, 

with all your soul, 

with all your mind, 

and with all your strength.

The second is this:

You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

There is no other commandment greater than these.”

The scribe said to him, “Well said, teacher.

You are right in saying,

He is One and there is no other than he.

And to love him with all your heart,

with all your understanding, 

with all your strength,

and to love your neighbor as yourself

is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding,

he said to him,

“You are not far from the Kingdom of God.”

And no one dared to ask him any more questions.