Commentary on Fr. Leatherby Ash Wed. Homily

My commentary on Fr. L. is what caused my wife to tell me, "This was touching.  I love you!!!  Now, that is what makes you most attractive!"  

 

On Ash Wed., my wife emailed me a link to Fr. Leatherby's homily called "Being One With Him": http://traffic.libsyn.com/frleatherby/2016Feb10.mp3

 



 

Fr. L. preached about how, when one loves another, one is willing to suffer with that person.  I think that, from a human level, this can be desired and lived out, as when a man suffers for a woman he loves. 

 

What touched me about Father's words was how he applied this to Our Lord.  Let me explain. 

 

For me, I have had many moments when I sensed that God sometimes takes certain sufferings away from me b/c I can find some of them overwhelming.  I would "put it back on Jesus" in the Garden of Gethsemane b/c He is, after all, the Savior of the world who can handle my suffering.  (By suffering, I don't necessarily mean my own personal physical suffering, but I can be overwhelmed when I hear of the sufferings of others.)

 

But Fr. L. reminded me that if one truly loves Jesus, one should be willing to share whatever Passion of His that He wants to share.  Of course, this is easier said than done, but it is a prayer that must be prayed. 

 

That is what moved me: To want to suffer with Jesus and not just accept union with Christ's passion.  That is what His Mother did.  "Son, let me die with you," as we see from "The Passion of the Christ." 

It was a break-through moment for me: To accept the suffering from Him and not place it back on Him like I sometimes do.  When one loves another, one is willing to take that suffering unto himself for the sake of the beloved.

 

I replied to my wife's email of Father L.'s homily that she sent me, "I love you, Lord, and want to share in your passion.  It is a difficult prayer but one that must be prayed.  Compatible....  To suffer with.   Let's talk and reflect on that some time."

 

She said to me, "This was touching.  I love you!!!  Now, that is what makes you most attractive!"