Father Csaba’s reflection on the gospel 29 March 2018 Holy Thursday .
In the quietness of Holy Week , down on my knees my eyes are peeled to my Heavenly Father’s face. He sees ,knows , accepts everything in advance . He is marching in the days turning around just like Abraham on the mountain of Moriah knowing that there is no billy-goat ! Sweating blood he obediently follows Jesus , firewood on his back , knowing that Isaac is the victim! The bloody Golgotha is a great secret of the Holy Trinity ! My Heavenly Father I never went down on my knees before You during Lent even though I know it’s easier to obey than want freely ! In Jesus’ obedience towards You there is the infinite love illuminating everything , the sweet knowledge of my redeeming of the world! But in the will of the Heavenly Father loosing His Son I only see the pain! For the terminal illness of human existence arising from the primeval state , You prescribed by Your own hand the Golgotha for Your Son, the suffering of Good Friday, the only medication , that can swing us over the swamp of selfishness and sin ! I am sitting in the chapel , can see through my eyes closed the way everything appears in a different light because of the magnificence ! A higher level of existence opens up before me , where not consumption, possession, the desire for power moves everything and everybody , but only pure love ! My desires push me towards You ! I shudder in the knowledge of my insignificance ! How could we stand , sinful people made from a handful of dust in front of Your holy presence ? Yet I embark on the exodus the most holy way of our physical existence , as in the first of the ten commandments You, Yourself asked me to adore, to worship You! The worshiping of our Creator God , the arc of Noah are our only hopes in this world !!
Good Friday is the beginning of a new era , from this day on no longer the creation of Your hand ,the beast of world are You the Lord of, but you are the Father of infinite Love , who opens Your innermost life’s door , the One who, at the wedding feast sits us at the same table with You, the goodness sharing Your power with us !
I am getting my eyes used to the light ! I am filled with the joy of the ones on their knees ! Everything is so simple ! Running around in the world thinking I was serving You ! Giving alms to the poor , teaching the lame to walk hobbling , to drag themselves in the dust of the earth ! Always weighing up everything , I was sharing out justice ! Even though my only task is , that myself unfolding my wing to show an example to my brethren , soaring high , to fly towards your arms opened widely my God !
Everything is finite , the earth, the water , the treasures below the ground , everything is within limits , except for love is there enough to go around unlimited for everybody ! The division of finite things can only give rise to wars, that is why people have to be taught to desire love, longingly search for the life-giving merciful love ! It is not difficult to present this lesson as deep in our heart we all feel that infinite thirst , that no matter what we try with, only love can quench ! The goal ahead of us is the commandment of love of Your Holy Son, the boundless horizon” Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’[a] 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b] “(Mark 12, 30-31)
On the path of greedy selfishness , in the cage of hatred you cannot win, because there are no winners there , no matter how bravely anybody fights, struggles , they’ll be losers ! Your place is in the yard of mutual love , you have to know only champions are born there ! You can only win in God’s hall of love because you don’t have to conquer anybody , because in this house among the guest there is no first and last runner up , at the Heavenly Father’s round table everybody occupies the head of the table !
To conversion means , that you are no longer chasing after our world’s sparkling odds and ends , you are not chasing the rainbows of bulwarks , neither fame , but humbly upon your Master’s word you embark on the road of the lesser brother’ s fraternity wanting to serve all ! Be not afraid , you are stepping on the road of saints not the unknown paths ! Give your all, and here do not think of your wealth , but your anxieties , your worldly ambitions,
drilled into you by advertisements , your grievances , your unnecessarily fastidious expectations , everything that pulls you down , and you become the trembling guardian of your jam-packed house, give all that away ! Be free, tear off the chains that you imposed upon yourself and give over your whole being to the merciful love wanting to serve with goodness ! The service of the lesser brothers is such a line of work where you’ll never become redundant , become obsolete , ready to be discarded , worthless ! There is a great need for you in our world and you’ll see that despite of your insignificance everybody wants you , because as you yourself , everybody in God’s name needs unselfish help !
The holy days of Holy Week are here , unfold your wings , you are free may not greediness , selfishness drive you, but only goodness, mercy and love ! Get going and you’ll see everything around you, your family, your workplace ,your church will turn into the kingdom of heaven ! On this road you, without abusing your power, will become as well almightiness on bended knees ! Ask and you shall receive , giving gift, you yourself will become a gift ! Be your creator God’s blessing hand , healing caress , life giving gentle rain , blessed spring sunshine , that gently not even touching will embrace you, living and life-giving to everything and everyone !
From the quietness of prayer ,
Father Csaba
translated by dr k.e.
Picture : On Wednesday of Holy Week with my children beneath the cross.
Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?" Jesus answered, "You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand." Peter said to him, "You will never wash my feet." Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no share with me." Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!" Jesus said to him, "One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you." For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, "Not all of you are clean." After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord-and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.
John 13:1-15
Father Csaba’s reflection on the gospel 29 March 2018 Holy Thursday .