Scripture:
Reflection:
Lord, Sometimes I feel so fatigued by our increasingly divisive world of war, dissension, senseless cruelty, dismissively abrasive language and blocked minds. A bewildering world where a teen can run up behind an old man, slap his ear hard enough to rupture his eardrum and call it a “prank.” Everything sometimes seems so chaotic and haphazardly confusing as our parish is gray-haired and our young people are abandoning the Church.
In dark moments of despair, I think of You at the Last Supper. Jesus knew how little time was left to prepare His disciples as well as how much they were lacking. You set Your night of pain in motion by telling Judas to “Do what you must do”, and he slipped away into the night to betray you.
Still sitting at the Passover table was the man You had chosen as the next head of Your Church. In Peter’s moment of darkness, he would deny even knowing you, not once but three times. You knew the twelve men You had chosen and loved the most would desert as You died alone on the cross, and that was surely an incredibly painful and terrifying part of your Passion and Death.
Help me strive to follow You, and refuse to desert You, even in times of fear, pain, and loneliness. I know I am never alone, just as You knew the Father is with You in all that exists.
Ray Alonzo is the father of three children, grandfather of two, and husband to Jan for over 45 years. He is a USN Vietnam Veteran, and a 1969 graduate of Mother of Good Counsel Passionist Prep Seminary. Ray currently serves on the Passionist Alumni Council.