"Lord, in your great love, answer me." Psalms 69:17

My graduation date is 47 days away. I will be receiving my undergraduate diploma and am off to enjoy the next great adventure life has in store for me. Presently, I could not tell you what that adventure will be, where it will take place or what I will be doing. Hence, the responsorial Psalm for today immediately caught my attention. This time of waiting, as I do not know what my plans will be after May 16, 2009, has been a humbling reminder that God’s time frame is different than ours. It is likely that I will not know the answer tomorrow or next week, but that I will live into it, a process which to date has been exhilarating and frustrating at the same time. As the Psalm expresses, our answers will sometimes mean that we are lead in directions that cause us to receive the insults of others.

Tomorrow is Holy Thursday and the beginning of the Easter Triduum. In the Catholic tradition, these three days are the most important of the liturgical year. The gospel passage for today invites us to consider the ways in which we have betrayed and are betraying Jesus Christ. Throughout the gospels, we can see that God identifies and is aligned with the poor. The risen Christ is mostly wholly and purely found in the orphan, widow and stranger. Thus, much like the disciples, we need to enter a process of self-reflection and ask the important questions posed by the late Jesuit, Ignacio Ellacuria “What have I done to crucify them [the suffering]? What do I do to uncrucify them? What must I do for this people to rise again?” Only we will be able to answer these questions. No one else knows the pattern of our hearts, except of course for God. The answers to these questions will draw us into community and more fully into ourselves. As we approach the celebration of Easter, these effects are beautiful, as Christ is best personified in the community of believers where all are celebrated, dignified and respected.