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Word of Life

Word of Life. April 2011. “ Not what I want, but what you want ” (Mk 14,36). Jesus was in the garden of olives, in a place called Gethsemane. The long-awaited hour had arrived. It was the turning point of his life. .

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Word of Life

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  1. Word of Life April 2011

  2. “Not what I want, but what you want”(Mk 14,36)

  3. Jesus was in the garden of olives, in a place called Gethsemane. The long-awaited hour had arrived. It was the turning point of his life.

  4. He threw himselfon the ground and appealed to God with confident tenderness, calling him ‘Father’. He asked to be spared from ‘drinking the cup’,words that referredto his passion and death. Jesus prayed that that hour might pass him by…But in the end he submitted completely to the Father’s will:

  5. “Not what I want, but what you want”

  6. Jesus knew his passion was no chance event, nor simply a decision by human beings,but God’s plan.He was to be triedand rejectedby people,but the handsthe ‘cup’ came from were God’s.

  7. Jesus teaches us that the Father has his plan of lovefor each one of us and that he loves us personally. He teaches us that if we believe in the Father’s love and respond to itwith our love – and this is the condition – the Father guides all things for our good.

  8. For Jesusnothing happened by chance,not evenhis passionand death.

  9. And this was followed by the resurrection, the solemn feast we celebrate this month. The example of the Risen Jesusshould shed light on our lives.

  10. We should be able to interpret everything that comes to us, everything that happens, everything around usand even the things that make us suffer,as willed by God who loves us,or as allowed by God because of that same love.

  11. So then, everything will have meaning in life,everything will be useful in the extreme, even things thatat the time seem absurd or hard to understand, even thingsthat plunge us into the deepest anguish, as happened to Jesus.

  12. All we need to do is to say with him,in an act of total trust in the Father’s love:

  13. “Not what I want, but what you want”

  14. His will is that we should live our lives and joyfully thank him for life’s gifts. His will is certainly not, as often thought, something we must be resigned to, especiallywhen we encounter pain. Nor is it a boring succession of actions done again and again throughout our existence.

  15. The will of God is his voice which continuallymakes itself heard within, beckoning to us.It is the way that he expresses his loveand brings us to the fullness of Life.

  16. We could picture itas the sun whose raysare like his will for each person. Each of us is walkingalong a ray, distinct from the raysof those next to us,but all are on a rayof the sun, that is, the will of God.

  17. So we all do only one will, which is the will of God, but it is different for each. Then the closer the rays come to the sun,the closer they come to one another.

  18. For us too, the closer we come to God, by carrying outthe divine will more and more perfectly, the closer we cometo one another… until we are all one.

  19. Living like this, everything in life can change.Instead of mixing only with the people we like and loving them alone, we can build relationships with anyone God puts next to us.

  20. Instead of preferring the things we like most,we can take an interest in whatever the will of God suggestsand prefer that.

  21. Being completely focused on the divine will in each moment(‘what you want’) will make us detached from everythingand from ourselves (‘not what I want’) – not as somethingsought for its own sake, since we seek God alone,but simply as an effect.

  22. Then our joy will be full. We need only to immerse ourselves entirely in each fleeting momentand do God’s will in it, saying:

  23. “Not what I want, but what you want”

  24. The past no longer exists; the future is not yet here.Just as someone travelling by train does not walkup and down the carriage to get to the destination sooner,but stays put, so we should stay in the present.

  25. The train of time moves on its own.We can only love God in the present moment given us,by saying our ‘yes’, a strong, total, and active ‘yes’, to his will.

  26. So let us love the smile we give, the work we do,the car we drive, the meal we prepare, the activity we organize and the person suffering nearby.

  27. Not even trials or pain should frighten us if, like Jesus, in them we recognize God’s will, or rather his lovefor each one of us. Indeed, we could pray in this way:

  28. ‘Lord, help me not to fear anything, because all that happens will only be your will! Lord, help me not to desire anything, because nothing is more desirable thanyour will. ‘What matters in life? Doing your will matters. ‘Grant that I may not be shocked or downcast by anything, because in everything I find your will. Grant that I may not be made big-headed by anything, because it is all your will.’

  29. “Not what I want, but what you want”(Mk 14,36) “Word of Life”, monthly publication of the Focolare Movement. Original text by: Chiara Lubich, April 2003.Graphic design by Anna Lollo in collaboration with Fr. Placido D’Omina (Sicily - Italy) This commentary on the Word of Life is translated in 96 languages, and it reaches millions of people throughout the world through the press, radio, TVand internet – for more information visit www.focolare.org.ukThis Powerpoint presentation is translated in various languages and is published on www.santuariosancalogero.org

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