At First Light: Day 19 Thursday's Holy Call

Today is Holy.
Holy Thursday.

As a convert to the Catholic Church I wanted to be certain about what that means.
My digging has left me both joyous and honored to participate in this special day.

Holy Thursday is the day on which Christ celebrated the Last Supper with His disciples,
four days after His triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.
Only hours after the Last Supper, Judas would betray Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane,
setting the stage for Christ's Crucifixion on Good Friday.

Holy Thursday is more than just the lead-in to Good Friday;
it is, in fact, the oldest of the celebrations of Holy Week. 
During the Last Supper, Christ blessed the bread and wine with the very words the Church 
uses today to consecrate the Body and Blood of Christ
during the Mass and the Divine Liturgy.

In telling His disciples to "Do this in remembrance of Me,"
He instituted the Mass and made them the first priests.

Near the end of the Last Supper, after Judas had departed, Christ said to His disciples,
"A new commandment I give unto you:
That you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another."

The Latin word for "commandment," mandatum became the source for another
name for Holy Thursday: Maundy Thursday.

 I received the most beautiful email today from a sister in Christ. A sister whose spiritual story to finding Christ is one that I could listen to over and over. She is, in one word, infectious.
Her journey to joining the Catholic Church is one similiar to mine.

 I just had to ask her if I could share her words with you.
 (She is officially my "first" guest blogger!)

May Tracy's words steer you toward the Cross.
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Dive in lovelies!

It's Holy week, and whether you have had a rough start out of the gate, none at all, or out in the front and running....tonight is your time to marinate in Gods intense love for you. Despite our different parishes, we all have the incredible opportunity to submerse ourselves in being with our Savior on His battle to bring us home.

I urge you to take just a second right now and see God begging for your arrival to be with Him today. Visualize and picture it.

He is your Knight in shining armor standing there,

waiting for you.

Can you see Him?

Longing to be with your beautiful face before he goes off to fight and die for you. Sisters, give him your heart today. Be passionate, as He is passionate for you. Are you kidding, the Most High, the King of all kings, Creator of the sun that woke you up this morning, and of the moon that will put you to sleep tonight, the Mighty Savior who knows you intimately, is preparing himself to go and win the war for your very soul reading this right now. Not for your circumstances or comfort, but for your eternity residing in divinity, peace, and perfect love. He accepts being scourged, humiliated, abandoned, and bleeding from the pores in which will be ripped from his bones, and all He wants is for you to show up and love Him at His family dinner table today.

The question is not can you do that?

 It is...how are you going to do that?

  Is it going to be from your pew in a service tonight, time in adoration, perhaps in carved extra time awake tonight in deep prayer when the kids go to bed, or maybe staying in the car for a quiet 10 minutes to pray while kids are on the field practicing, or skipping a gym class

and replace with reading scripture.

Whatever or however get to Him!

He is waiting.

 Waiting for a glimpse of your love before he visualizes your

face while saying, it is finished.

His Peace and Loving you, Tracy

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Be sure to check out my sister-in-law's 30 day journey also at http://bobbyandbrooksdavidson.blogspot.com/

Blessings, Jodi