Riccardi

Commentary on the Word of Life: Not what I want, but what you want. (Mk 14:36) Jesus was in the garden of olives, in a place called Gethsemane. The long-awaited hour hadarrived. It was the turning point of his life. He threw himself on the ground and appealed to God, with confident tenderness calling him ‘Father’. He asked to be spared from ‘drinking the cup’, words that referred to his passion and death. Jesus prayed that that hour might pass him by… But in the end he submitted completely to the Father’s will: Not what I want, but what you want Jesus knew his passion was no chance event, nor simply a decision by human beings, but God’s plan. He was to be tried and rejected by human beings, but the ‘cup’ came from God’s hands. Jesus teaches us that the Father has his plan of love for each one of us and that he loves us personally. He teaches us that if we believe in the Father’s love and respond

From Chiara’s diary But what meaning does Lent have in our Christian life? It reminds us, among other things, that life is a struggle, a race. Saint Catherine used to say: “Run, run because time is short.” Her “run” echoed that of the Apostle: “Do you not realize that, though all the runners in the stadium take part in the race, only one of them gets the prize? Therefore run like that in order to win. Those who participate in the race willingly undergo every kind of sacrifice in order to win a wreath that will wither away, whereas ours will never wither.” There then we have the sacrifices. Call them what you want: they are those small acts against our will, our instincts, against our innate egoism that Lent proposes to draw us closer to Jesus Christ.

Rome, 1978 Oh, St. Joseph! Perhaps I have prayed to you too little… I ask your pardon.I have spoken about you, but I have not spoken with you, and yet you have said so much to us by your silence, by your readiness to carry out God’s wishes, by your daily work which teaches all people, especially the poor of the world, to offer up their own labour.You are the Protector of the Church, and Pope John XXIII gave you a special position in it.We desire to have a deep devotion towards you, because you protected Mary and Jesus and because you are a model of all the virtues.St. Joseph, we commend to you the unity of the Church; the orders, the religious movements, the families. Take care of the young people and the children so that they are not led astray by the evil of the world, but, guarded also by you, they may walk according to God’s plans. Chiara Lubich Transcription (from Knowing How to Lose, New City/London, 1981,