Walk in Love

We are quickly approaching the end of Lent; next weekend will be Palm Sunday. We will once again remember the Paschal Mystery. But this year has been unlike any other in our lifetime. This year, we as individuals, as a country, and as a world have been shrouded in the loss. 

We know a loss of freedom, intimacy, and touch. Our faces have been shrouded from one another. Patience and tolerance have often been scarce. We have been afraid. Anxiety and loneliness have been our companions. As we approach the end of Lent, we know in a way we never have before what Jesus felt. We know what the disciples felt, We know what His family felt. We know what His mother felt.

We have crossed the year mark in the pandemic, and nearly 600 thousand have died from this plague in the United States alone. During this year, many others have died from disease, accidents, suicide, and old age. Millions and millions mourn.  

We walk with Jesus, to His death, in these last weeks of Lent. We also walk with all those who have died and all those who mourn.  

Merritt Malloy wrote a poem called “Epitaph.” I encourage you to close your eyes and listen as  though Jesus is speaking to you and only you.  The poem follows if you prefer to read it.

 Epitaph 
 by Merritt Malloy
 
 When I die
  Give what's left of me away
  To children
  And old men that wait to die.
  
  And if you need to cry,
  Cry for your brother
  Walking the street beside you.
  
 And when you need me,
  Put your arms
  Around anyone
  And give them
  What you need to give to me.
  
  I want to leave you something,
  Something better
  Than words
  Or sounds.
  
  Look for me
  In the people I've known
  Or loved,
  And if you cannot give me away,
  At least let me live on in your eyes
  And not your mind.
  
  You can love me most
  By letting
  Hands touch hands,
  By letting bodies touch bodies,
  And by letting go
  Of children
  That need to be free.
  
  Love doesn't die,
  People do.
  So, when all that's left of me
  Is Love,
  Give me away.

Love doesn’t run out or get used up. The Love of God and the Love of those we have lost to death multiply. It strengthens, and it intensifies every time we give it away. 

As we approach the days of Holy Week and the Paschal Mystery of our Lord, we remember, and we celebrate that Love doesn’t die. Jesus is with us still, and we are One in him. God grant that we freely give His Love away to others especially those who struggle, feel unloved, and are burdened by life.

In God’s Unending Love,

Gwen