As he rode along, the people were spreading their cloaks on the road; and now as he was approaching the slope of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of his disciples began to praise God aloud with joy for all the mighty deeds they had seen. They proclaimed: “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest.” Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” He said in reply, “I tell you, if they keep silent, the stones will cry out!” (Luke 19: 36-40).Even if I were to stop writing about the Good News, His glory would not be diminished. I don't add anything to Jesus by writing. I don't make Him better, or holier, or mightier, or more praiseworthy. He doesn't need me; I could stop and He could easily replace me with a stone.
But, I need Him. I need to write about Him, talk about Him, live for Him.
The purpose of our praying, fasting and almsgiving during Lent is to strip away all that keeps us from Jesus and to allow us the ability to recognize our yearning for earthly things as a reminder that all of this is in vain; we need Christ and Christ alone.
Even though Jesus doesn't need me, He still loves me. He cares for me. He is committed to me, concerned about me, captivated by me, supportive of me, and hopeful for me. He does all of these things in a perfect way. A superlative doesn't even do justice to the desire that Jesus has for me. His love for me surpasses all of the love that any other human has or ever has had for me.
He loves me. He could substitute me with a rock and yet I am worthy of His love.
You are worthy of His love. Our students are worthy of His love. The person who cuts you off in traffic is worthy of It. The classmate causing problems in school is worthy of It. Your best friend. Your worst enemy. Peter. Judas. Pilate. James and John. Mary. Martha. Herod. Me. You. Everyone.
And there is nothing we can do to deserve His love. We cannot merit It. We can't earn It. We can only be willing to accept It and then be willing to cry out and sing His praise because of how He loves us!
Oh, how He loves us.
Oh, how He loves us.
Cry out! Oh, how He loves us!
