Struggling and Persevering in Faith

Weekly Missionary Reflection
Palm Sunday, 02 April March 2023
Isa. 50:4-7; Ps. 22:8-9,17-18a,19-20,23-24; Phil. 2:6-11; Matt. 26:14 – 27:66 (long) or Matt. 27:11-54 (short)

Today we celebrate Palm Sunday, and the Holy Week begins. The Church invites us to contemplate the passion of Jesus Christ. Some of us might have memorized the way of the cross of Jesus Christ. There are many forms of sources that help us contemplate those moments, from the readings, visualized drama, or film. Then, how is our personal contemplation on this event?

Understanding the Church’s teaching of the Divinity of Jesus and His humanity is the key to our reflection on the event of the cross. Jesus is fully God and fully human. As a human, He was truly suffering from extreme pain. He was betrayed by His own disciple. His teaching was misunderstood and He was betrayed. Indeed He did not expect this anguish. The prayer in Gethsemane is His true expression from the deep of His heart towards this agony. As a human, like us, Jesus wanted to avoid this agony. Yet He was faithful and surrendered Himself to the Father. Till on the cross, at the end of His life, Jesus was completely alone.

Contemplating the passion of Jesus also means pondering human suffering. We are invited to ponder all our adversity, distress, despair, and misery, and like Jesus who is faithful to death on the cross, we are invited to endure in faith. Enduring in faith does not mean despairing and being passive. Enduring in faith is striving to believe that God is always with us. Strive to believe and seek the presence of God even though we feel that we are struggling alone – like Jesus felt He was alone suffering on the cross. Striving to believe that God’s plan is the plan of salvation even though we can not comprehend it.

My beloved brothers and sisters, the resurrection of Jesus that we are celebrating on Easter day is closely related to the agony and the death of Jesus. Through this reflection, we are invited to realize that God’s love is beyond any kind of misery.  Only by struggling and persevering in faith, we could really experience the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

(Br. Kornelius Glossanto, SX – Xaverian Missionary)

DAILY DEDICATED PRAYER

Lord, our Father, I present my today prayer, thought, word, work, joy, and sorrow in unity with Your Son, Jesus Christ, who always presents Himself in the Eucharist for the salvation of the world. May the Holy Spirit animating Jesus, also be my guidance and strength today so that I am ready to be the witness of Your love.

Together with St. Mary, Mother of Jesus, and the Church, in particular, I present my prayer for our Pope and apostle prayer of the Indonesian Church of this month:

For a culture of peace and non-violence
We pray for the spread of peace and non-violence, by decreasing the use of weapons by States and citizens.

For the self-confidence of the youth
We pray that the youth may realize that their addiction to the digital world and the online facility is isolating them in their own world, and may they are encouraged to be confident and willing to extend relationships in their real life.

Amen