Devotion for today: Father, into Your hands I commend My Spirit

Today we come to the end of our study of Christ's last words . In His seventh “last statement" Jesus hands His spirit back to His Father, His task on earth complete.

Scripture for meditation: Luke 23:44
It was now around midday and darkness came over the whole land until midafternoon with an eclipse of the sun. The curtain in the sanctuary was torn in two. Jesus uttered a loud cry and said, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” After he said this, he expired.

Scripture for reflection: Psalm 31:5

Into thy hands I commend my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O Lord, the God of truth.

Henri Nouwen tells us: One day, I was sitting with Rodleigh, the leader of the troupe, in his caravan, talking about flying. He said, "As a flyer, I must have complete trust in my catcher, The public might think that I am the greatest star of the trapeze, but the real star is Joe, my catcher. He has to be there for me with split-second precision and grab me out of the air as I come to him in the long jump."
"How does it work?" I asked.
"The secret," Rodleigh said, "is that the flyer does nothing and the catcher does everything: when I fly to Joe, I have simply to stretch out my arms and hands and wait for him to catch me and pull me safely over the apron behind the catchbar."
"You do nothing!" I said, surprised.
"Nothing," Rodleigh repeated. "A flyer must fly, and a catcher must catch, and the flyer must trust, with outstretched arms that his catcher will be there for him."
When Rodleigh said this with so much conviction, the words of Jesus flashed through my mind: "Father into your hands I commend my Spirit." Dying is trusting in the catcher. To care for the dying is to say, "Don't be afraid. Remember that you are the beloved child of God. He will be there when you make your long jump. Don't try to grab him; he will grab you. Just stretch out your arms and hands and trust, trust, trust." (Henri J. M. Nouwen A Roman Catholic Priest: Our Greatest Gift: A Meditation On Dying And Caring, Harper, 1994)

Prayer: Prayers of St. Bridget

O Jesus! I remember the simple and humble recommendation You made of Your Soul to Your Eternal Father, saying, "Father, into Your Hands I commend My Spirit," and when, Your Body all torn and Your Heart broken, You expired. By this precious death, I beg You to comfort me and give me help to resist the devil, the flesh and the world, so that, being dead to the world, I may live for You alone. I beg of You at the hour of my death to receive me. Amen.

My thoughts: When I was studying to be a grief counselor, we were taught that most people die the way they live. Lying in bed, waiting to “make their long jump” as Henri Nouwen calls it, some people were so agitated, angry, crying, terrified, and alone. Others were so peaceful, resting comfortably, praying or surrounded by praying family and friends. When the time came, they closed their eyes and slipped into God’s outstretched arms. Giving our spirits to God implies more than giving our hearts or minds or bodies. “Into your hands I commend my spirit” is giving God the only part of us that lives on. It is the only part of us that was ever heaven-bound from the beginning. We came from God, and we are meant to return to God. Live in the peace and love of God, follow His commands, love and serve His people, and commend your spirit to His trusting arms. Your will forever rest secure, here, and in the world to come.

Our prayer to God: Now I lay me down to sleep

 Now as I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
Please, guard me, Jesus, through the night,
And keep me safe till morning's light.
But should I die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.
And should I live for other days,
I pray that God will guide my ways.
Amen

Devotion for today: “It is finished.”

 Christ’s torment ends as it started: in total surrender to God’s will. Today’s reflection is not the intense concentration on the death of Christ, which will be Good Friday. Today, we spend one day before Holy Week begins in remembering the joy that follows death.

Scripture for meditation: John 19:30

When Jesus took the wine, he said, “Now it is finished.” Then he bowed his head, and delivered over his spirit.

We read in The Prophet: Then Almitra spoke, saying: We would ask now of death.

And he said: You would know the secret of death. But how shall you find it unless you seek it in the heath of life? The owl whose night-bound eyes are blind unto the day cannot unveil the mystery of light. If you would indeed behold the spirit of death, open your heart wide unto the body of life; for life and death are one, even as the river and sea are one.

In the depth of your hopes and desires lies your silent knowledge of the beyond; and like seeds dreaming beneath the snow your heart dreams of spring. Trust the dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity.

Your fear of death is but the trembling of the shepherd when he stands before the king whose hand is to be laid upon him in honor. Is the shepherd not joyful beneath his trembling, that he shall wear the mark of the king? Yet is he not more mindful of his trembling?

For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun? And what is it to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless tides that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered?

Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing. And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb. And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance. (The Prophet, Kahlil Gibran, Walker & Company, Phoenix Press, 1923)

Prayer:
 My Lord God,
I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.
(Thomas Merton, Thoughts in Solitude, Abbey of Gethsemani)

 My thoughts: Christ surrenders to death, and eternal life is now ours. Christ died for us, and we now live for Him. When we complete a task, it feels so good to declare, “It is finished.” We have completed what was asked of us, and hopefully, we now find peace and satisfaction in a job well done. May we find that peace at the end of our lives, and may God smile on us when our sufferings and trials are finished. It is then that we will begin to dance.

Our prayer to God: The Lord of the Dance

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLGqavkDszU&feature=related

Devotion for today: Were You There?

Were You There

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNg-ROsQItE&feature=related

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?
Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?
Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?

Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?
Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?

Were you there when God raised him from the tomb?
Were you there when God raised him from the tomb?
Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when God raised him from the tomb?