On This Day
Have you ever failed a friend?
On this day, there are people who feel they are carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders.
They have struggled to make it day in and day out, but the world seems to be failing them again and again. Friends who say they will stand by them disappear. The good people who offer help abandon them. They ones they trust are shown to be untrustworthy. They are truly alone.
Jesus answered, "Will you lay down your life for me? Very truly, I tell you, before the cock crows, you will have denied me three times. - John 13:38
On this day, Jesus was abandoned by his friends, the very ones who said they would go to their death with him if they had to.
When we offer someone a hand in friendship, when we reach out to comfort of console, when we give someone in need a moment of our time, we make a commitment that we often find difficult to keep.
On this day, as we contemplate the Passion of Christ, we should think of the parable Jesus told of the Good Samaritan, the man who went out of his way to help another, without expecting anything in return.
We should think of this man not because we are called to be like him, but because we may find ourselves like Peter, wanting to be there, offering our support, but falling short of the commitment the words we say represents.
On this day, as we go about our business, we should stop and think of the words we say to others, and hear them as words of hope, words that may change the outcome of the day.
Perhaps then, we will see that our kind words of hope may lack the commitment of our faith, the passion and stewardship of our daily work in Christ.
What we offer to others is more than positive support. It is a bond of love and truth. If we fail to follow up on that truth, we are like the men who pass the beaten stranger on the road and offer nothing.
Or perhaps we are worse, for they offered no hope and so of them nothing was expected.
We need to live the commitment of our faith, on this day.
More to come...