April 15, 2011 Friday: 5th Week of Lent (A)
Accepting the Will of GodI always connect the Passion of Christ with obedience. Just to accept and to accept in such a way without doubting, without grumbling, without complaining, without explanation. It is good...to face ourselves with this one question: have you really experienced the difficulty of obedience and the surrender?...Maybe there were times in your life when it was difficult to obey. Ask:
1) Did you pray? Jesus prayed the longer when it was difficult to accept the will of God. What did you do?
2) Did you grumble?
3) Did you criticize? Examine yourselves so that the devil cannot overcome you.
4) Did you experience the joy of total surrender? God didn't speak to Jesus directly nor to Mary--it was through an angel, or through Joseph, or through Caesar, but never directly. See the total surrender of Mary. She is the living example of total obedience, not only in a book, but in her heart.
5) How many times have you obeyed with determination?
These are details, but think, Caesar wrote that everyone must come and register his name in his own country. He was proud, he just wanted to know how many people he had. Joseph and Mary didn't judge him, they didn't criticize, they just went. They could have said: "It's already nine months, the baby could be born at any time." But no. Caesar said, "Go," so they went. Again, somebody wants to kill the child [and they decided to] run away. They could have just hidden somewhere, but they went...See the trust of Our Lady and St. Joseph.
-Mother Teresa from Where There Is Love, There Is God
