Skip to main content

Wine mixed with myrrh


It's been a really long time since I have written a blog, but something in today's Gospel reading, struck a chord with me. It was the fact that Jesus on his way to Calvary was offered wine mixed with myrrh, a commonly used pain killer in those days but he refused to drink it. Even the cruel crowd and heartless soldiers who have witnessed probably hundreds of executions, knew that the pain of crucifixion was too much for a human to bear and in an escaping glimpse of some humanity they offered him some relief, but he wouldn't take it until he completed his mission.

This verse thugs at my heart strings because it reminds me of times when I knew suffering was in store for me but I desperately searched for a way out. One such incident,  happened to me two years back when I knew I was having a miscarriage. It's something I haven't spoken of till now, mainly because for me, it was more than anything a battle of my faith. I couldn't understand why it was happening to me and just like how Jesus cried out during his Passion "Eloi Eloi lama sabachthani?" I felt God had forsaken me. But unlike Jesus who still carried on doing his Father's will. I ran away from it. I struggled to pray after that, it was one of the reasons I stopped writing these blogs as I was still battling with God on why he would allow something like that to happen to me.

One of the Books of the Bible that I took comfort in during that time was the Book of Job. It would amaze me how Job, inspite of being a righteous man, suffered the loss of his family, property, health, friends and yet gave praise to God, staying faithful through the pain. The story ends with God restoring to Job twice as much as he lost. That encouraged me to put my trust in God, knowing that he would never fail. Knowing that at times, he allows us to be tested but he always restores and rebuilds, doing what is best for those who love him. 

Jesus doesn't just expect us to stay faithful in times of trouble, he shows us exactly how to do it as he walked up Calvary. He is not ignorant of the pain you may be going through, he has felt it and accepted it. Look at the cross to find courage in your tough times and look at the Resurrection to find hope and trust in God's redeeming love.


 

Comments

  1. RamonaMarch 28, 2021 at 10:19 AM

    A solace you will find only in the scriptures to ease you out of your pain. Always keep this in mind. The word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Turning point

Around 7 years ago, I questioned everything, including the existence of a God. I went to mass like a regular Catholic, but I didn't utter a word for that whole one hour. It was a routine, a reason to meet friends. I did pray occasionally when I needed something, but after a point of time I stopped doing even that because I found it pointless, not a single prayer was answered. Was there a God? Then came the darkness I hear whispers of my mother going for a checkup, I see on her face something is wrong, but I don't understand it. I push the thought away because just a few days later, my sister suddenly cries out in pain. She cannot breath, she is gasping and is rushed to the hospital at night. Her lungs were filling up with water and the doctors don't seem to know what to do with it. My parents ask me to stay with my sister in hospital one day because my mother had to go for a lung biopsy. I knew they were doing it to detect cancer but I didn't want to think '
10 comments
Read more

Tempting, Isn't it?

Oscar Wilde, once said "I can resist everything except temptation." However the Bible would disagree, "God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it (1Corinthians 10:13) Temptations on their own are not the problem, it is only when we give into them that they lead us down the path of sin. On the contrary, resisting them actually makes us stronger and holier. The reason we fall into sin is because temptations appear in the disguise of something good. Greek mythology speaks of Sirens, which were dangerous monsters that used to sing sweet enchanting music to lure sailors on to rocky shores resulting in shipwrecks and death. In the same way even sin entered the world when Eve, decided to eat the forbidden fruit, which on its own seemed harmless and was probably tasty but in her doing so, she defied God, bringing destruction to herself and to the h
1 comment
Read more

Do we Catholics really eat the body of Christ?

I would be lying if I told you that I always believed in the changing of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. In fact it was only recently, after much reading, it all began to come together for me. I had 4 questions to which I needed answers and here is what I found: Why did Jesus need to give us his body? In order to understand this, we need to go to the very beginning, to Genesis. It was in the garden of Eden that man's obedience to God was tested, Jesus was also in a garden when his obedience to God was tested, the garden of Gethsemane. Adam failed the test and ate the fruit of the forbidden tree, Jesus chose the right tree, he chose the tree of life. The cross was also called the tree in the Bible, "cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree" (Galatians 3:13). Before sin, Adam walked with God in the garden and seen the face of God but after he sinned he hid from God's presence. Sin brought distance between God and man, it also brought death i
2 comments
Read more

Are statues in churches idolatrous?

Most people often accuse Catholics of idolatry by quoting Exodus 20:4 "You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth." This verse is in the context of the first commandment 'I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other gods before me. Since the Israelites never seen God, they resorted to making images of created things and worshiped it as god which was prohibited then and still holds true for us today. However, does it mean that God prohibited the making of all statues? God himself ordered the making of statues Just 5 chapters after the prohibition on making idols, God orders the making of enormous gold cherubim on the mercy seat of the Ark of the covenant in Exodus 25. The Ark of the covenant was revered by the whole of Israel and was considered most sacred. Hence it is clear that, God did not have an issue with all statues, but only
Post a Comment
Read more

Understanding the mass through the Prophet Isaiah

I have been going to church ever since I was a kid and it became more of a habit as I didn't really understand what was happening during the mass. I would stand when the congregation stood, sit when they sat, I wouldn't utter a single prayer, grumble when the sermon was too long and wait for the mass to end. However, it all changed after I read Isaiah 6 which describes the 'call of Isaiah'. When I first read the passage, it didn't really affect me, but standing there during mass, the verses just shot out at me. I began to realize that what Isaiah described in the Old Testament foreshadowed the Eucharist that we celebrate today. Going to church had a whole new meaning for me ever since... What should we look forward to at mass? Isaiah went to the Temple of Jerusalem in 742 BC where he saw a vision of God on a high throne and he felt the glory of God fill the temple. There he saw the Seraphim, meaning 'fiery beings' attending to the one on the throne
3 comments
Read more