Every day we watch people tear each other down—
not over truth, not over justice,
but over political tribes that have grown louder
than our identity as Christians,
louder even than our identity as human beings.
We dress immorality in the clothing of virtue,
we call lies “truth,”
and we forget the one command Jesus never softened:
Love one another.
Not “agree with one another,”
but love—
the kind that respects,
the kind that listens,
the kind that knows how to live with difference
without crucifying the other.
Isaiah gives us the Servant who listens before He speaks,
who wakes each morning with an open ear,
ready for whatever the Father asks.
And then—He does not turn back.
He offers His back to the lash,
His face to the spitting,
His dignity to the shame.
Not because He is weak,
but because love has made Him steadfast.
“The Lord God is my help… I have set my face like flint.”
And in the Gospel, we see that love wounded.
Jesus reclines at table with His friends,
and one of them chooses betrayal—
thirty pieces of silver,
a price smaller than the weight of a human heart.
Yet Jesus does not run.
He walks straight into the wound,
trusting the Father,
trusting that mercy will have the final word.
As we approach the Triduum,
we ask for the same grace:
to listen like the Servant,
to stand firm in love when rejection comes,
and to refuse the easy hatred of our age.
May we follow Him not only to the table,
but into the costly, courageous love
that alone can save the world.
Prayer
Lord Jesus,
Open my ears to Your voice.
Teach my heart to love even when it is hard.
Calm the anger that rises in me.
Strengthen me to choose mercy over division.
Stand beside me when I feel rejected or misunderstood.
Make my life a witness to Your steadfast love.
Lead me into the peace only You can give.
Amen
