T
Trishie
Guest
To Jesus: gratitude
Jesus, although divine, You became human to teach and redeem us. As infant, child and youth You played, studied, laboured, and grew in obedience, cheerfulness, gentleness and strength. Behind Your eyes lay deepening knowledge of Your true origin, growing knowledge of God and man, creation and life. Your heart bore love that is wondrous, merciful, and eternal.As man, You taught, healed, and shared Your life with other men, slipping away to pray to the Father of all life. You worked and socialised, enduring and enjoying human experience in everything but sin. Yet as You faced death in terrible aloneness, the putrid deluge of all humankind’s sins oozed upon You, to the nauseated anguish of your sinless spirit. Yet, You held out Your arms to bear the weight of all the darkness of our human race.
In the Garden rebelling flesh sweated like drops of blood as Your humanity cried out to Love Itself for kind release. Yet You humbly, praying, grasped the will to save each person from eternal discord, sorrow and death—although many will only half-heartedly welcome Your gift and numerous others will reject it.
Despite Your sorrow at this bitter truth, Your love prevails in total sacrifice. Forever, therefore, through Your mercy, I owe You my eternity—of fulfilment, happiness and peace, of kinship with the almighty Father, in loving communion with all who accept Your redemptive Sacrifice, and through the divine Spirit, make Your life their own.
God Incarnate, what is Your will for me? I am redeemed by You, and come to You in all my burdened brokenness. I offer You my being, gifts, virtue; and even, in deep humility, I give You my faults and sins, pleading for Your pity, healing, and communion.
Jesus, as man, You lived and died for me, as God can make me whole, and make me wholly Yours. This enduring grace I also seek for each soul in my care, for am I not, as You have proved to be—for his sake and for Your glory—my brother’s keeper!
(from ‘a handful of wildflowers’)