Alleluia! It is still Easter for 34 days! Then we celebrate Pentecost!

Pentecost is the 50^th day of Easter which is 7 weeks of 7 days (49), plus a special Sunday!

Did you know that we are in our Mother’s womb for 40 weeks and then that leaves 12 more weeks in a year? I could never figure out why 52 weeks in a year until recently. I love the numbers of God’s beautiful, magnificent and awesome creation of earth. The earth rotates on her axis 7 times in a week and once in 24 (12×2) hours. The moon waxes and wanes to become full 12 months of the year. There are 12 hours on average of light in every part of the earth and 12 hours of darkness every day. The only reason to fear the number “6” is when we don’t count to “7”. Seven completes the cycle of a week.

Now in Sacred Scripture, God creates the world in “6” days and calls it all GOOD! And then God enjoyed a good rest on the “7^th” day! God wishes to dance with us and laugh with us and create even more with us. God is like a mother or father who love their children and have so many hopes for every child. And the really great news is that God chooses you and me to be that special child with Jesus. We are the bride of Jesus. Jesus brings us home to his Mother and Father for all eternity. Jesus desires with his whole heart, mind and soul to be our beloved spouse for all eternity!

When one of the 12 sons of Jacob was sold into slavery by his brothers, it appeared as if a horrendous burden of grief was placed on the family. Jacob’s name had been changed to “Israel” which means to wrestle with God. After many years of wrestling among every family member, Joseph, the one sold into slavery who became the second in command in Egypt, simply told his brothers that if they had not sold him into slavery, all of us would have perished. Something good came out of a family disaster.

And so, 400 years later, the whole family who immigrated to Egypt was now in slavery. Who was to save them? Moses, who had lived 40 years as an adopted son of the Pharaoh, had to escape into the desert for 40 years. At first he was bitter, but then he saw the beauty of the desert especially in his wife and children. Then when he was 80 years old, God called to him in the burning bush and asked him to bring a nation out into the desert. So much for learning to live with solitude! After being rejected by the people many times, Moses did manage to lead the people for 40 years in the desert. When he was that sacred number, 120 years old (40 + 40 + 40 = 120), he died before going into the Promised Land. And yet, we all meet Moses and Elijah in the Transfiguration with Jesus as they discussed with Jesus his upcoming “exile”. The Psalms say that we average living 70 years or in case we are strong 80. I think we can all agree that deterioration of the human body is rapid after 80. When we fail to live with justice and peace, people, especially the poor, live shorter lives.

It is important to remember that Jesus spent 40 days in the desert immediately after his baptism in the Jordan. Jesus was about 33 years old which translates into 396 moons or months. From Christmas (the shortest day of the year) to the Passover (the spring equinox) there are 4 moons or months. Therefore, Jesus was most likely 400 moons old when he died on the Cross.

The four Gospels combined, record 7 statements of Jesus on the cross. I believe that if we understand who the witnesses of those words were, we can have a better grasp and understanding of what Jesus wanted to say to us.

1.) The Gospel of Mark and Matthew have Jesus saying just one thing.

“My God, My God, why have you abandoned me!?”

Scripture scholars believe that the Gospel according to Mark is from the perspective of St. Peter. Neither Peter nor Matthew was at the foot of the cross. Therefore, they had to get this account from someone who was there. That someone could have been Jesus. They did spend about 40 days with Jesus after the resurrection. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me, is simply Psalm 22. When Jesus was on the cross in excruciating pain, he wanted to say something that would have impact. By saying just the first line of the psalm which every Jew would know by heart, Jesus was able to say a lot. The Gospel writers could not exhaust the impact or the meaning of the words of Jesus.

The Gospel of St. Luke along with the Acts of the Apostles is more from the perspective of St. Paul. Luke traveled and was a close friend with Paul. Jesus says just three things in this Gospel account.

2.) “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do!”

3.) “Today you will be with me in Paradise.”

4.) “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.”

All of these statements sound just like Saul who became Paul. It is important to realize that Paul was considered an apostle even though he didn’t walk with Jesus during his life or after the Resurrection. However, Saul encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus. He was blinded by the Light. Saul had persecuted Christians and put them to death. The most famous victim of his self righteousness was St. Stephen. Paul repented and became a martyr for Our Beloved Jesus the Christ. Paul needed to hear Jesus say from the cross, “Father, forgive Paul, he does not know what he is doing.” “Paul, today you will be with me in Paradise.” And then he could see how Jesus would surrender to God the Father. Paul would say that this life is rubbish, except that Jesus is here.

And finally, the last Gospel according to St. John is from the Beloved apostle. John was the one of the twelve (or man for that matter) who had the courage to stand below the cross with the mother of Jesus. John is about love. John spent most of his life by the side of the future Queen of Heaven. John had a vision of Heaven. We believe that although John suffered greatly, he was the only apostle not to experience a martyr’s death. As Mary, the mother of Jesus was being pierced by a sword, John was witnessing his most beloved friend being pierced before water and blood flowed out of the heart of Jesus. What pain John must have endured at that sight. John says that God is Love. So here are the final words of Jesus on the cross according to an eyewitness and a “heart witness”,

5.) “Woman, behold your son. Son, behold your mother.”

6.) “I thirst.”

7.) “It is finished.”

If the Virgin Mary is our mother, then Jesus is our brother. Often in the Old Testament, a beloved wife was considered a sister also. By these few words, Jesus calls us sisters and brothers, friends and lovers. Even on the bloody horrific cross, he felt it was worth it as he gazed at his mother and beloved John and Mary Magdalene. Love truly conquered terror and hatred. We all can be married to God if we simply wrestle our way to the cross and hear the words of God himself in Jesus, Our Beloved.

Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta did just that. She heard the words of Jesus on the cross, “I thirst!” and then she placed those words beside every cross and tabernacle in every chapel in every location the missionaries of charity tended to the poorest of the poor. I can attest to the power of those words when I visited those chapels in Jamaica, Guatemala, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Haiti and a home for victims of AIDS in New York City. I could spend my life just contemplating those two words and I would be fed with the finest of bread and the oil of gladness.

When Jesus died on the 6^th day of the week, for the Sabbath was beginning, he cried out:

“It is finished!”

The exile was over. The 400 moons were complete. Sunday would now be the first and last day of the week. The great silence would break into a chorus of Alleluias. So on the Easter Vigil, the holiest night of the year, the first of 7 Old Testament readings is from the first chapter of Genesis:

And so it happened. God looked at everything he had made, and he found it very good. Evening came, and morning followed—the sixth day.

Thus the heavens and the earth and all their array were completed.

Since on the seventh day God was finishedwith the work he had been doing, he rested on the seventh day from all the work he had undertaken. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work he had done in creation.

Such is the story of the heavens and the earth at their creation.

Beloved, please remember that God created this magnificent world for all of us to enjoy and be part of. Let us be great stewards of our time, talent, treasure, numbers, education, country, and bodies just like Jesus was; especially on the Cross. And let us truly be stewards of our day of rest so that we can all dance with the Lord of the Dance!

The heavens are telling the glory of God, and all creation is shouting for joy…

Love, joy, peace,

Father Ron Moses +

www.tearinthedesert.com

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