All This I Give You

All this I give you…

What do you say to the Lord when you are sitting at Mass for Good Friday and He says to you, “All this I give you.”?

Nothing. There is nothing you can say to that or do, except to sit in that moment dumbfounded, unworthy, broken beyond belief, humbled, laid bare, exposed, and yet encapsulated by Love.

Christ laid down his Life for us, so that we might taste Eternal Life through Him. THIS He has given all of us. Further, this is just one manifestation of His Love for us, for His Love for me personally, intimately, thoroughly.

Tonight Christ suffered through a blood-sweat filled evening of anxiety, followed by His arrest, purging, and then Crucifixion. He gifted this for me, for you, for all of us.

He also formed you in the womb, loving-stitch by loving-stitch. He gave you breath. He gave you your first family. He consecrated you to Him. He watched you grow. You learned to eat His Flesh and drink His blood. You confirmed His consecration of you to Him. He gave you another family – a wife and children, born out of a bond of Love…a covenant before God and man, a sacrament where two became one. He blessed your family and made it prosper. You taught the young in the way they should go. Your young grew up; you grew old; your wife grew old. You continue to teach the younger in the way they should keep going. The young bear their own children. You marvel at the cyclicalness of this Life. You grow closer and closer to Christ as a precious metal refines in fire. Eventually, you breathe your last…Father, into your hands I commend my spirit. You are Home.

All this He has given you…

What do we say to you, Lord? Even the Angels lay silently prostrate before you.