Are You Prepared for a Life of Service Like Jesus?
Matt Ruhl
The Christian tradition of Easter stems from the death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, later called Jesus Christ. In a time when some have openly questioned their faith and the faith of a nation described in the Constitution as Christian or at least God-fearing, what sacrifices are we prepared to make for our neighbors and fellow citizens? Pastor of St. Martin de Porres Church Father Matthew Ruhl serves in the middle of the current urban warzone, flanked on all sides by so-called gang territory – he has even been robbed once himself of church collection. But going into this Easter weekend, he reminds us that Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice in the name of service, and He calls on us to do the same.
Father Matt Ruhl, Pastor, St. Martin de Porres R.C.
“What Belize should be thinking about is this: we all know about the violence and the ugliness that has enveloped our City, and we are all very saddened by this. And so the Holy Week offers us a way to proceed. Number one, today is Holy Thursday, we celebrate the Mass of the Last Supper, and at the Last Supper Jesus Christ washed the feet of his disciples – which normally was the task of a slave. So what is Jesus saying in his last lesson as a teacher to his students, his disciples. He is saying this: that you and I and Christians must live lives of loving service. There is no job too small or too low or too demeaning, that Christians should not undertake it, if it is for the welfare of his neighbor. In the course of all this ugliness, Belizeans and all of us who serve need to understand that it might have reached that point that we labour to the point of suffering to bring peace back into our City and into our country. That would be a case of loving service. Good Friday is the extent to which Jesus is willing to love and serve; Jesus is willing to love and serve unto death. What is he saying to us? People don’t want to hear it; people get comfortable in their Christianity. But what Jesus is saying to his followers is, I need you to be willing to love and serve, even unto death, if I ask it of you. But there’s no question that Jesus Christ is asking us to love and serve, and if we suffer in the course of that, then the Christian’s role.”
Holy Saturday in the Catholic tradition is the anticipation of waiting for Jesus’ resurrection on Easter Sunday. Catholic masses are set for seven-thirty this evening (Mass of the Last Supper); the Stations of the Cross on Good Friday afternoon at one-thirty; the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday evening at seven-thirty, and the Easter Sunday mass at nine.
