Thursday, April 02, 2015

Maundy Thursday meditation (C Jewell)


As we move through tonight’s meditation on the Gospel I invite you to reflect on the humility and love of the Christ during the periods of silence---

True love cannot exist, a true love for one’s neighbor cannot exist without the greatest commandment: “You shall Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind”
Jesus “knew he came from God and that it was now time for him to return to God”. Though it all the Christ was completely, fully, grounded in God, which means he was completely, absolutely, free. This allowed him to love fully, this allowed him to be love because he was beyond self-centered attachments and judgement
 .......
True love cannot exist without deep humility

 Jesus takes the position of a slave when he bows to wash the feet of the disciples. He knows that where there is the search for power, for position, there is separatism. As long as each of us is concerned with our own position and power our culture will be the outcome of a process of segregation. Jesus is betrayed, is rejected—for he is outside of the pattern of society and so society regards him as a threat.
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True love cannot exist where there is discrimination
He is humble—he is nothing. He washes all of the disciples’ feet, including Judas’--he loves all—he loves like a bird loves the sky or like the rain loves the dry earth—simply, without thought, without self
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True love cannot exist where there is self-centeredness
The Christ calls us out of our old selves, he sends us out to love one another the way he loves us—with no possessiveness, without conditions, without a hidden motive, without a need for gratification.
.......
True love cannot exist, a true love for one’s neighbor cannot exist, without the greatest commandment: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.”




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