Risen Jesus,
Every moment of your life was a glorious hymn of praise
as you did only “what pleased your Father”:
listening, and responding in love and fidelity,
whether questioning the doctors in the temple,
learning from Joseph how to make furniture,
and grieving his death,
changing water into wine,
leaving home to walk the dusty roads of Galilee,
teaching, healing, forgiving, challenging,
relaxing with friends, Mary, Martha and Lazarus,
letting Lazarus die and then raising him,
suffering rejection and unjust judgment,
living the hours of your torture, and death.
Your life was a faithful and loving song of “Yes” to your Father.
Risen Jesus,
May my life too be such a song of loving praise,
its every moment a note in that melody,
whether a glorious and true note of jubilation,
a wobbly, weak note of grief,
a tender tone of longing and love,
or a cracked and uncertain squeal of confusion.
a rest note that holds the silence of waiting,
or a crescendo that pleads or rages.
Whatever the notes that compose the moments of this, my life,
whether they be clear and true, scratchy or wavering,
or even off key,
somehow, let my imperfect, human “yes”
blend with your magnificent and perfect one,
into a beautiful and unique harmony.
Risen Jesus, help me to accept all my moments, as they are, as I am,
those moments I have lived and those yet to come,
and by your amazing love transform them
into your paschal hymn of praise,
today and every day,
for the salvation of the world.
Amen.
-Sister Mary Diesbourg, CSJ
IMAGE: Sixteen Miles Out/Unsplash
