Dear Friends, It is hot today in Nairobi, as it has been the last few days. More importantly, we are in the middle of Holy Week and just to begin its most solemn part. I always stand in amazement at what it is like when a person is free enough, ready in spirit, to give their entire self to someone else. When a great Love comes into a person's life, it begins to bring forth from their depths a desire to pour out their entire self, to give their heart, mind, soul and even body, if appropriate, to some other, whether it is to God or to another wonderful human being who has come into their life as really special. This is what I see Jesus doing when He approaches the last hours of His life, what we commemorate today. He knows He will be saying 'goodbye' very soon. He has little time or a opportunity left to speak what is most important to Him, what He so wants to say. Have you ever had a hint of this in your own life? I have, to some degree. I have had the experience of really wanting to give everything, to give "it" all to God. This is why what happened to the four nuns in Yemen about three weeks ago so captures my attention and awe. When someone knows he or she will die soon, they get to "the bottom line" in their values, what matters most in the center of their soul and they speak it however they can. Jesus was in this situation at the Last Supper, a time for Him to say a final 'goodbye' to His closest followers/friends of the past three years. And how did He express Himself? What He said is so profound, so moving, so unique that many people could not and still do not believe Him, or they interpret it to have a lesser meaning, a meaning that would fit what they think is "reasonable" and "realistic." I refer to what Jesus did with the meal He inherited from His Jewish tradition: the Seder meal. He hosted that meal and took specifically the bread and wine and gave these parts of the meal a whole new and infinitely deeper meaning: This is my Body, my whole self. (That is, this is Me that I am giving to you.) This is my Blood, my LIFE poured out for you. I want you to do the same for your sisters and brothers." It is like He was saying, "I am going to leave you very soon, yet I will not leave you. I am going to die as a young man but I will remain with you as your food and drink for the journey you are making home to our Father. I will not abandon you. In fact, I give you my entire self to be with you forever, so much do you, my sisters and brothers, mean to me." I cannot get over this gesture of love in the midst of such vulnerability, and He did it when all hell was breaking loose around Him, when certain people wanted Him dead. To still want to give your all in the face of hatred and violence coming at you is overwhelming. What strength of soul one must have not to run in fear but still be faithful to who you are and still give the best of who you are to anyone willing to receive this gift of yourself! I simply cannot get over this! I end by copying for all of you part of an article a former student of mine submitted for a reflection paper some twenty years ago at Manresa. It still impresses me to no end, still! It is best read today, Holy Thursday, in anticipation of this evening's foot-washing and Eucharist. Here is the article. I hope you enjoy it. When the Bible is seen in its Jewish context, it comes alive in many new ways. There are additional nuances of meaning that can be found when looking at its setting. The following is a good example of this point. In first century Israel, marriage customs were distinctive, particularly the manner of a man proposing marriage to a woman. A young man reaching marriageable age would go with his father to the house of a godly family which had a daughter that would be an appropriate wife. They had never met the girl but they would go to her house to sit and negotiate the "bride price" with her family, because the loss of a daughter meant an enormous loss for her family. When the two visitors and the family had agreed upon the price for this 14, 15, or 16 year old daughter (cows, goats, etc) the young man would then ask her to marry him, but do it in a very Jewish way. The young man's father would take a flask of wine, pour out a cup of wine, and then hand it to his son. The son would then turn to the young woman and, with all the solemnity of an oath before God, would say to her: "This cup is a new covenant in my blood, which I offer to you." In other words, "I love you. I will be your faithful husband. Will you be my bride?" How can anyone, when reflecting on this, not recognize Jesus and what He said at the Last Supper (Luke 22:20) to his Jewish followers who knew so well the Passover liturgy and the significance of the cup offering during this ritual so sacred for Jews? And who will not recognize the personal significance of our drinking from the chalice anytime we participate in the communion ritual of the mass? How could anyone miss the depth of what Jesus is saying to us and what we are agreeing to with Him when we drink from the chalice? And then another striking parallel: When a young man was to marry, he and his father would build a room onto the family's house or a separate house somewhere on the father's land. It was there that the son and his future family would live. After asking a girl to marry him, the young man would say to her: "I am going to prepare a place for you and then I will return for you." Again, who would not recognize the parallel with what Jesus says at the Last Supper: "In my Father's house are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be." (John 14:2) May our "Amen" to such a gift get deeper and deeper!! I am so taken by the kind of relationship God wants with us, but, sadly, for many it is too good to believe, to "extreme." Someday we will all see, and what a day that will be! I will post a short saying tomorrow, on Good Friday. God bless! Bernie Owens