[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” _builder_version=”3.0.74″ transparent_background=”off”][et_pb_row use_custom_width=”on” custom_width_px=”750px” parallax_method_1=”off” admin_label=”row” _builder_version=”3.0.47″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″][et_pb_button button_url=”http:\/\/sangabpres.org\/?page_id=3027″ button_text=”Return to Reflections” button_alignment=”right” _builder_version=”3.16″ custom_button=”on” button_text_size=”14″ button_text_color=”#e09900″ button_border_color=”#e09900″ button_use_icon=”default” background_layout=”dark” button_letter_spacing_hover=”0″ button_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_text_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_text_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_text_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_border_width__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_width__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_width__hover_enabled=”off” button_border_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_border_radius__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_radius__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_radius__hover_enabled=”off” button_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=”on” button_letter_spacing__hover=”0″ button_one_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=”off” button_bg_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_bg_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_bg_color__hover_enabled=”off”][\/et_pb_button][et_pb_post_title categories=”off” comments=”off” _builder_version=”3.0.87″ parallax_effect=”off” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”][\/et_pb_post_title][et_pb_divider show_divider=”off” height=”4″ disabled_on=”on|on|off” _builder_version=”3.2″ hide_on_mobile=”on”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.21.1″ header_font=”|on|||” header_font_size=”66px” header_line_height=”1.7em” text_orientation=”justified” max_width=”750px” use_border_color=”off”]<\/p>\n
We are in Holy Week.\u00a0 This year I have been more aware of the fragility of life because so many people I know are recovering from various surgeries.\u00a0 The most recent is my dog Gaby, who had knee surgery on Friday.<\/p>\n
As I attempt to take care of Gaby now that she\u2019s home, I am reminded of how many times I\u2019ve wondered about what motherhood would have been like for me.\u00a0 I am able to do the work I do largely because I have so few responsibilities at home\u2014except for the short time I was caring for my father, my only care has been for myself and my pets.\u00a0 So as I struggle to watch out for this injured creature, I can only marvel at the love and energy expended on the care for a precious child.<\/p>\n
Of course, the great mystery of this week is the suffering of Jesus, God\u2019s own precious child, whose love for the outcast, obedience to his heavenly father, and challenge to the establishment church and political leaders culminated in his rejection and killing at the hands of the world he came down to love.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Every year the question \u201cwhy did it have to be this way?\u201d comes to me, and honestly I don\u2019t think this is a question any mortal can adequately answer.\u00a0 Even Jesus wondered about this in Gethsemane garden, and yet in faith he continued on his journey to the cross.<\/p>\n
When I was in seminary, my spiritual hero was a woman who was undergoing chemotherapy from the breast cancer that eventually killed her.\u00a0 The chemo came in a bright red liquid, and she came to equate the chemo to the blood of Christ presented to all of us in communion.\u00a0 She even went so far as to connect the harsh cleansing of the chemo, which seemed to almost kill her in order to eradicate the cancer, with the cleansing of sin that comes with taking the cup at the Lord\u2019s table.\u00a0 Are we willing to give our all, to be willing to die to self in order to gain the life that God wills for us?\u00a0<\/p>\n
As we experience the limitations and even horrors of mortal life, may we learn to appreciate the radical lengths Jesus went in order to bring us back to God.\u00a0 As we consider our love and care for those we love, may we remember the pain that God was willing to go through, watching Jesus die in pain and humiliation for the sake of a world that hated him.\u00a0 As we ask God for everything that comes to our mind, may we every once in a while take a moment of silence and dare to listen for what God might want of us, and may we trust that whatever we do for Christ, we will also find peace in the eternal love of God.<\/p>\n
The poet Richard Jones considered the great faith of Mamie Till, the mother of Emmett Till.\u00a0 For mothers like her, Jesus\u2019 sacrifice proved that God knew her pain.\u00a0 And through mothers like her, God\u2019s healing and justice are furthered in this broken world.\u00a0 Even in the depths of our own personal pain, even as the blood of life is shed for reasons of injury or violence or even birth, may we entrust our lives to our Lord, in gratitude for the life-saving love of Jesus.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Face\u201d
by Richard Jones<\/p>\n
Emmet Till\u2019s mother She tells in a comforting voice And then she compares his face to This mother says no, she\u2019d not recognize For, she said, she could still discern her son\u2019s curved earlobe, In faith and gratitude,<\/p>\n Wendy<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_post_nav in_same_term=”off” _builder_version=”3.0.87″ use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” hide_prev=”off” hide_next=”off”][\/et_pb_post_nav][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" But when Christ came as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation), he entered once for all into the Holy Place, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood, thus […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sangabpres.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23334"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sangabpres.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sangabpres.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sangabpres.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/50"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sangabpres.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23334"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sangabpres.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23334\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27723,"href":"https:\/\/sangabpres.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23334\/revisions\/27723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sangabpres.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sangabpres.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sangabpres.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/em>speaking over the radio<\/em><\/p>\n
what it was like to touch her dead boy\u2019s face,
how she\u2019d lingered and traced
the broken jaw, the crushed eyes\u2014
the face that<\/em> badly beaten, disfigured\u2014
before confirming his identity.<\/p>\n
the face of Jesus, dying on the cross.<\/p>\n
her Lord, for he was beaten far, far worse
than the son she loved with all her heart.<\/p>\n
but the face of Christ
was beaten to death by the whole world.<\/p>\n