AD SENSE

Holy Thursday - Holy Hour

 Use appropriate Hymns at the beginning and in between

Into our broken world you came, Lord Jesus. You embraced our darkness, even though you are pure light.

You were born in a cave and wrapped in flimsy cloth, you who cover the heavens with the sun, moon and stars. You cried for your mother's milk, you who feed the entire world. You needed the warm arms of a mother, you who stretch out to embrace the universe. You submitted to the Law, you who make all laws of nature. You were baptized as a sinner in the Jordan. You who are sinless and all pure. You traveled about preaching to the multitudes, you who are the silent, everlasting Word of God. You touched the lepers, gave sight to the blind, and opened the ears of the deaf, because you came to give them abundant life.

You, the King of the universe, became like a humble servant. You were hungry and thirsty, you who provide food and drink for all. Sinners touched you and were healed of their loneliness. You were called a friend of harlots you the pure Bridegroom of Your Church. You were poor with no pillow for your head, you who possess the fullness of the Father. 

You were the light, but the darkness did not comprehend. You offered love, but received rejection in turn.You wept for the sins of the world, you, the joy of the world. You washed the feet of sinful men, the Master who came to serve. Ours were the sufferings you bore, ours the sorrows you carried. You were struck low as a criminal, crushed for our sins. You were acquainted with sorrows, you who brought pleasure to Your Father. Your sufferings and punishment bring to us peace and forgiveness. And by Your wounds we can be healed.

O, Jesus, radiant Light, you entered into our darkness of sin, violence and shame, that we might have a share in your healing light. On the cross, like a valiant warrior, you entered into the battle of light against darkness, of love against selfishness, of giving against possessing, of forgiving against revenge, of letting go against holding on to. 

The soldiers looked upon you whom they had pierced for they saw that to break your bones was useless for you were total brokenness. You were taken down from the cross, wrapt again in flimsy cloth and held in the arms of Your Mother. 

"Jerusalem, Jerusalem, what more could I do for you?" 

God has reached the limit of giving, of self‑emptying. No shade of blackness could be added to your darkness. No more void to absolute Zero! 

O God, in Jesus may I learn that love becomes fiery light only in the total broken darkness.


WE ADORE YOU, LORD JESUS

Our Response: We adore you, Lord Jesus, and we bless you

a)     We adore you, Lord Jesus, Firstborn of all creation. Fill the universe with your splendor and our hearts with your love. (R)
b)    We adore you, Lord Jesus, first Word in the silence of the world. Be the praise on our lips and the love in our hearts. (R)
c)     We adore you. Lord Jesus, mercy of God on the road of our life. Give us your tenderness for the poor and love for our communities. (R)
d)    We adore you. Lord Jesus, firstborn among the dead. Awaken us on the last Day for the eternal feast and be love in our hearts. (R)
e)     We adore you. Lord Jesus, good Samaritan who has mercy on us. Be the healing of the wounds of our sins and the love in our hearts. (R)
f)     We adore you, Lord Jesus, living water to refresh our dried-up lips. Be the living words on our lips to invite people to your well. (R)
g)    We adore you, Lord Jesus, the invigorating wine that brings joy to our celebrations. Fill our empty jars with optimism and encouragement. (R)
h)    We adore you, Lord Jesus, as you write our sins on the sand and your forgiveness on our hearts. Be our mercy on our brokenness. (R)
i)      We adore you. Lord Jesus, last smile at the hour of our death. Be our first Joy upon entering into your Kingdom and the love in our hearts. (R)

*Our response will be R:/ We adore you and praise you, O Lord.*

a)    You alone, Lord Jesus, are light in our night. Guide the blind that we are toward the dawn of your eternal Day. R:/
b)    You alone, Lord Jesus, are Master of wisdom and fountain of mercy. Instruct the students that we are in the wisdom of heaven. R:/
c)     You alone, Lord Jesus, are brightness in our sight. Take away the straw and plank from our eyes; reveal your beauty to us on the faces of your children. R:/
d)    You alone, Lord Jesus are the good tree which gives us the fruits of paradise. Tear out the thorns and briars from our souls, make us ready for the harvest of heaven. R:/
e)     You alone, Lord Jesus, are a treasure buried in our heart. May the riches that you have placed in our heart flow from our lips in words of love and praise. R:/
f)      You alone, Lord Jesus, are the Good shepherd that seeks out the strayed sheep. Come Lord to bandage our wounds and carry us in your bosom R:/
g)    You alone, Lord Jesus, are the Good Shepherd who leads the sheep to green pastures and running waters. Make us sit with you at the banquet you prepare for us R:/

Prayer
As we come before you during this Holy Week with our sisters and brothers, we know you read our hearts; You see the secrets of our life, our lostness in lust and little things, not harmonized. We now realize that in loving worship of you alone, O Lord, we become truly Christians. Remaining within your loving embrace, a worshiper in spirit and in truth can we be a candle burning brightly for the Lord. Turn our days into a joyful celebration of the mystery, that is our origin and end. Unite us with you high priest of humanity, the Alpha and Omega, beginning and end, Firstborn of all creatures.
For you have chosen us before the foundation of the world; you are the vibration of our soul. Make us servants of the universe
blending all creatures inwardly into a song of praise and adoration. Let the radiance of' your worship shine upon our daily doings. Change the world before our inner eyes into a revelation of your splendour, shining forth most brightly. The destiny of all that is. This we make through Christ, our Lord. Amen. (Pause)
***
Meditation on the Crucified Lord

I look at the crucified Lord here and in life. I see him stripped of everything:

  -Stripped of dignity, naked before his friends and enemies...

  -Stripped of all his possessions: I remember the times when people wanted just to touch the fringe of his garments.

   -Stripped of his reputation: I remember the times when he was spoken well off ...

  -Stripped of success : I recall the heady years when his miracles were acclaimed and it seemed as if the kingdom were about to be established

  -Stripped of credibility:  so, he could not come down from the cross; so, he could not save himself; he must have been a fraud.

 -Stripped of support:  even the friends and family who did not run away are powerless to reach him or help him ...

 -Stripped of his God , the god he thought of as his father, who he hoped would save him in his hour of need ...

 Finally, I see him stripped of life , this existence here on earth that he, like us, held on to tena­ciously and was unwilling to let go of ...

As I gaze at that lifeless body, I slowly understand that I am looking at the symbol of supreme and total liberation. In being fastened to the cross Jesus becomes alive and free. Here is a parable of conquest, not defeat.

So now I begin to contemplate the majesty of the man who has freed himself from all that makes us slaves, destroys our happiness ... In gazing at that freedom, I think with sadness of my own slavery:

 -I am a slave to the things that I possess : I think of the times I am controlled by the gadgets and things that I have or the way I appear before people

 -I am a slave to public opinion : I think of the times I am controlled by what others/community will say and think of me ...

 -I am driven to worldly acceptance : I see the times I run away from challenges and risks because I hate to make mistakes or fail ...the many initiatives that I fail to take …

 -I am enslaved by the need for human consolation : how many times I was dependent on the approval and acceptance of others /friends/ community, their power to assuage my loneliness, the times I didn’t really express my opinion, I was possessive of my friends and lost my freedom ...

 -I think of my enslavement to my God : I think of the times I try to use him to make my life secure and undisturbed and painless; also the times I am enslaved by fear of him, and by the need to insure myself against him through rites and exercises and ceremonies ...

 -Finally, I think of how I cling to life : how para­lyzed I am by fears of every kind, unable to take risks, for fear of losing friends or reputation, health, success or life or God ...

-And so, I gaze in admiration at the crucified who won his final liberation in his passion when he fought with his attachments and let go of them, and conquered…..

I too desire for myself the freedom and the victory that shine out in the body on the cross.

And as I continue to contemplate the mystery of his cross, I hear again his words re-echo in my heart:

    "If you wish to follow me, you must follow with your cross..." and "unless it dies, the grain of wheat remains alone..." 

Healing

Here is my love offered to you, a love of pain, suffering unto death. Take and receive my gift of self, my healing stillness that drives from out of your heart all noise and clamour, of love divine, pursuing, ever present.

This healing love I give to you. Kneel down to receive this anointing as kings of old, as consecrated servants. I send you forth, healed and whole to be a healing touch of love to all you meet.

You were broken, but always loved.  Now be love to those who still know not of my healing, loving power. Tell them the good news that darkness can be turned into light, loneliness can embrace and be united into a loving community of many in the oneness of my love. Absence is driven out by presence; brokenness can be healed by love!