It is Finished! Jesus' Cry of Triumph and Glory

Detail of Hosios Loukas, Greece, 11th century

It is Finished!!!!

These words hit me – touched me like they had never done before.

“It is finished!” ( Jn 19:30)

I had rarely, if ever, truly spent time contemplating these words. But, alone in our Church this past Tuesday of Holy Week, I was touched to do so while contemplating Jesus' Seven Last Words from the Cross.

What do these words mean... for me ... for all of us?

In prayer I realized they mean far more than the end of Jesus’ suffering and death on the Cross.

I understood they mean that ALL that Jesus had come to do was accomplished!
Consider this...

ALL has been atoned for!

ALL has been done that could be done to save us!

Contemplating this led me to consider the immense glory of this statement that Jesus proclaimed from the Cross!

These words are a cry of Triumph!

If ALL has been accomplished, ALL has been accounted for -- 
this means...

NOTHING has escaped Jesus' loving redemption and His Saving Power!

Jesus, our Savior, atoned for, and suffered for every evil committed from all eternity!

This wasn't just the culmination of His suffering, but a proclamation that ALL Christ came to do

was accomplished --from His Incarnation

to His upcoming Glorious Return to the Father

in which He brought our humanity, forever united with Him, into heavenly glory!

From His first instant of existence as Man in Mary's womb,

to the Infinite Grace poured out unto the last drop of His blood on the Cross.

ALL Jesus did, said, experienced and lived when He became Man

was to save us,

which is expressed in His very Name,

Jesus,

meaning God SAVES!

Contemplating this, what an astounding understanding is gained!

If, ALL has been atoned for …

Then, Jesus saw and atoned for every genocide, every holocaust, every act of terrorism and persecution, every addiction and murder and divorce, every suffering of the innocent, every heartbreak, every abortion, every martyrdom, every sin and suffering that had ever occurred and would continue to occur to the end of time! Not only did Jesus atone for and suffer for these tragedies, but He also was and is present -- suffering in those who suffer, in ALL of these terrible tragedies (as well as in the big and small sufferings in each of our lives)-- because as the Divine Son of God, He is beyond all space and time!

How mind-boggling is that!

ALL is accomplished!! ALL has been atoned for! ALL has been done to save us!!

What glorious news!  But do I believe it and cling to this knowledge when I am in the midst of sin and suffering?

“God, who knew no sin, became sin to save us!” (2 Cor 5:21)

Bearing the weight of our burdens, our suffering, and our sin upon Himself, He opened the gates of heaven wide for ALL who repent, receive, and cooperate with this Forgiveness, this Pardon, that He accomplished for us!

ALL is finished!

What GLORY has been wrought for us!

And at what a PRICE!  Contemplating His suffering shows us the extent of Christ's love for us and that He would stop at nothing to show us His love and His forgiveness.
What more could He have done to save us?!

Because of the immense suffering He endured...we should have immense confidence in Him!

We are to trust in His power to save –

We are to trust that “It is finished” as He said!

We are to believe and trust that, in Him, we are ALL commended to the Father in the Spirit.

ALL that is lacking is our cooperation in faith, hope and love!

This is accomplished in our Baptisms, in which "we die with Him, so also to rise with Him to new and eternal life!" (cf. Rom 6:5, 8; Col 3:1).

So, by the grace of our Baptisms, then... each day

We are to hope against hope (Rom 4:18) –

When ALL seems lost…in our souls, in our lives, in our families, in our marriages, in our world and in our nation...

We are to stand firm and be assured of His mighty power to save!

He has accomplished our Salvation!

He, Who is ALL-powerful, has brought the dead to life!

He has borne the entire weight of all humanity’s sins from the beginning unto the end of time!

No one has suffered like unto Him – but His Cross is HIS GLORY and Ours – it is our salvation, it was what He wanted to achieve by becoming Man.

So, what need have we to ever fear?!

“Hope in God I will praise Him still, my Savior and my God!” (Ps 42:11, 5; 43:5)
Not only does He atone for all our sufferings,

Jesus unites all our sufferings with His --for He is “ALL in ALL!”

He is both He who suffers in and through and with us – bearing the bulk of our suffering, sin and shame…

As well as the Conqueror of Sin and Death -- leading us to Freedom!!!

So we can cry in joy: 
You have set us free!

         Free from sin and death!

                   Free from eternal slavery
Free from fear, worry and anxiety if we never lose our hope in You!

It is finished!

You created us in freedom and You gave us freedom to either choose You or not.

Sin alone, destroys our freedom, for Jesus said: "Amen, Amen, I say to you, anyone who sins is a slave of sin" (Jn 8:34).

It is for this reason He came... to set us free!

Jesus, You have born the weight of our suffering and our sin – freeing us from this unbearable weight and its eternal consequences so we can live in eternal freedom, if we so choose!

If we choose—

If we choose You in our freedom… (What power He has given us in our free will?!)

You have paid the price for ALL to experience an eternity of glory in heaven.

But we must choose to accept Your unfathomable goodness and the glory You wish to bestow on us – a glory of union with God Who created us and loved us so much that He rent the heavens and came down (Is 64:1) to live among us, and to suffer unto death to save us!

A glory and a freedom that we can experience even on earth, especially in the Mass, in the Eucharist and Holy Communion, when He again rends the heavens and comes down to live inside of us – proclaiming with love and forgiveness to our souls, “It is finished!”

May these words pierce through any darkness of mind, body or spirit we are experiencing this Easter season and may they be our hope and glory. Also, let us pray for ALL those who have not yet accepted Jesus and ALL He has accomplished for us, that they may soon freely choose Him and His Salvation!

Alleluia!  Christ is Risen!  Let us rejoice and be glad in the victory that has been won for us!

© Janet Moore 2015. All Rights Reserved.

Photo Credit: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Structured_gallery_of_Resurrection_of_Christ#/media/File:Hosios_Loukas_(narthex)_-_East_wall,_right_(Harrowing_of_Hell)_03.jpg

The "Angel" Among the Garbage Pickers

I have to share this story.  It is deeply touching, heartbreaking, encouraging, challenging...and a sign of God's intimate Presence and Love still alive and at work among us in the most tragic of circumstances...  This story is about a woman who is touching the lives of many children in circumstances most of us could never imagine.  But, it is also the story of Christianity in Egypt... whose Churches have been bombed and whose children are being martyred.  I would like to wet your appetite to read this very worthy article, by including the remarkable circumstance it relates:

"But something remarkable happened in the smouldering ashes of Egypt’s burned churches. In one town after another, banners were raised over the ruined buildings. Charred walls were scrawled with messages for the attackers.  

The messages? “We forgive!” “We still love you!” And on the burned wall of the ruined orphanage: “You meant to hurt us, but we forgive you. God is love. Everything works out for the good.”"

God bless you this Holy Saturday and always!

Janet Moore

by Ellen Vaughn posted Thursday, 2 Apr 2015

Amid the filth and despair of Cairo’s worst slums, a middle-class ‘lady in white’ feels called by God to protect the children who must sort rubbish to stay alive

It’s a place that feels as though it’s beyond hope. It has existed on the fringes of Cairo for generations, a maze of crumbling, dark dwellings and narrow streets of packed dirt, trodden by emaciated donkeys pulling wooden carts towering with stacks of rubbish. 

This is the place where the “garbage-pickers” live. Fifty thousand of them. They pick up and sort greater Cairo’s waste – the rubbish of 22 million people – and recycle what they can for a few coins a day. They separate rotting food, used nappies, hypodermic needles, broken glass, plastic, metal and crumpled paper. They live in sewage, disease and stench. There is little clean water. Among many families, violence, addiction and abuse are a way of life. Electricity is scarce and the nights are full of dangers. Many of the children born here will die before they are five years old. Some starve; some succumb to dysentery. The residents of this place are known in Arabic as the Zabaleen: garbage people. 

A little boy named Anthony came with his family to this place when he was three years old. He was too young to know that, as a Christian in a country where everyone’s religion is listed on their identity card, he was part of a religious minority. He was too young to understand that his parents had fled from their village in southern Egypt when radical Islamists had burned down their home. He didn’t know that the teeming garbage village of Mokattam was one of the few places his parents could find work. 

Anthony grew up in the stench, relentless activity and remarkable resilience of the garbage village. He and his four siblings lived in a small room under the stairs in a crumbling multi-level building. As a young boy, he helped his parents gather and sort rubbish. By the time he was 10, he had left school and had a job ironing clothes in an area where people could actually afford such services. But there was a problem. The man in charge of the laundry shop took a liking to Anthony. He pressed in on him. If Anthony refused his advances, the man would burn him with the iron. Anthony dreaded the dark evenings, when the man would come after him. He had burns all over his body. He knew of no way out.

But a determined woman came to help. Dressed in a white T-shirt, plain white skirt and white scarf, this lady had heard of Anthony’s plight. One night, when he was in a fever and a haze, lying miserably on the dirty floor, resigned to hell, she and her friends appeared. She took him to her own home, far beyond the slum. She brought a doctor to see him. The doctor came every day for a week and dressed his wounds. The lady hand-fed him so he could gradually get stronger … stronger than he had ever been. 

The lady talked to him as he lay in bed. She put cool cloths on his forehead. She wept. Anthony felt as if her tears matched his own. Then she said something astounding. She held his hand tenderly and asked Anthony to forgive her as a surrogate for the man who had attacked and abused him. He didn’t know what to think. 

The lady in white was like an angel, showing him things he had never known. Dignity. Hope. Forgiveness.

I first met this “lady in white” in the early autumn of 2013. She is Maggie Gobran, an upper middle-class Egyptian businesswoman and university professor who felt called by God to trade her upwardly mobile lifestyle for a life of helping, protecting and energising the poorest of the poor. 

Years ago, as a socially conscious Christian, Maggie had visited Cairo’s garbage slums at Christmas and Easter with other friends from her church. During one such visit, she saw movement in a pile of shredded paper and plastic. She gently dug in the rubbish, and found a tiny child. Her heart broke. She began to spend more and more time in the slum, building relationships with children there. They started calling her “Mama Maggie” – and Maggie’s comfortable, conventional life began
to change.

In the late 1980s, Maggie and her husband, Ibrahim, started a ministry called Stephen’s Children, named after the first martyr recorded in the New Testament. Today, Stephen’s Children helps poor children in the garbage slums of Cairo and far beyond, bringing spiritual and physical food, education, training, medical services, love and care to children like young Anthony, kids who had never known hope before. Today, Stephen’s Children has helped more than 30,000 children and families. Twenty per cent of the ministry’s 1,500 workers and volunteers were served by the ministry when they were young. 

When I first met Mama Maggie, Egypt was in turmoil. President Mohammed Morsi, who was tied to the Muslim Brotherhood, had been removed by an incredible outpouring of 30 million Egyptian citizens demonstrating on the street. A temporary government was in place. 

Egypt is about 90 per cent Muslim and 10 per cent Christian. Those proportions were represented in the demonstrations against Mr Morsi’s government. But in the chaos after his departure, it was Christians who took the brunt of his extremist supporters’ rage. Christian churches, schools, convents, bookshops and businesses in Cairo and other cities were attacked, looted and burned, including
one of Mama Maggie’s kindergartens. 

But something remarkable happened in the smouldering ashes of Egypt’s burned churches. In one town after another, banners were raised over the ruined buildings. Charred walls were scrawled with messages for the attackers. 

The messages? “We forgive!” “We still love you!” And on the burned wall of the ruined orphanage: “You meant to hurt us, but we forgive you. God is love. Everything works out for the good.”

Mama Maggie Gobran comes from a culture that astonishes many of us. Drawing from centuries of opposition and martyrdom, it is a mindset of forgiveness, hope and courage. We in the West can learn much from our sisters and brothers who are persecuted, simply because of their faith. Mama Maggie’s mindset turns Western values upside down in another way. The former marketing executive is devoid of any sort of advancement or public relations mindset for her ministry. She does not entertain Western donors who visit Cairo. Her attention, whether foreign visitors are with her or not, is always on the children.

One such child is a little girl I’ll call Gigi. One day Gigi came to a Stephen’s Children outreach in the garbage village. She was full of bright promise. As is her habit with all the children, Maggie washed Gigi’s filthy feet and kissed them tenderly. 

Two weeks later, Gigi was at her home. Some families are fortunate enough to have both electricity and shredding machines that reduce the sorted waste. Gigi was helping as rubbish was being fed into a big shredder. Suddenly her small body was being pulled into the machine. As she screamed in terror, her brother pulled her from its jaws. Her life was saved, but only just. The machine ripped off her right arm at the shoulder. 

As you can imagine, this tiny, maimed girl was full of fear. She was scared of everything. So young, bloodied and wounded. She was the first child Mama Maggie had ever met who was scared even of Mama Maggie. 

“I wept all the time,” Mama Maggie says. “It was so awful to think of how the enemy of human souls wants to rob, steal, and destroy, and would even cause this poor child to lose part of her body, so she would feel a complete absence of protection and security.”

Mama Maggie prayed earnestly for Gigi. Then she unexpectedly saw the girl again at a day camp. She called Gigi to the front of the group and put her arms around her. I saw a tiny girl with fuzzy hair and a stump, now healed. Mama Maggie saw much more. She was beside herself. “It was the best gift I could ever receive to see her listening as I talked, smiling at the rest of the kids and looking up at me,” she said. 

“I wanted to hug her and kiss her in front of everyone, and say, ‘Oh! I have dreamed and thought of you every day! And here you are!’ Finally, I felt Gigi could feel my heart. She could feel the love that conquers fear.”

Mama Maggie believes that if you train up a child in the principles of the Scriptures, the Word will stay with them for the rest of their lives. All the children in her schools memorise Bible verses, with great fervour. 

I heard classrooms full of children shouting out, first in Arabic, and then in English, lifelong truths such as: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me! Philippians 4:13!”

Though most people have never heard of Gigi, or Anthony, or any other of Mama Maggie’s children, many around the world have now heard about some of her boys. Of the 21 young Coptic men who were murdered by ISIS forces on the beach in Libya in mid-February, seven were loved and trained by Mama Maggie’s ministry when they were young. They learnt the great, ancient truths of the faith. They learnt, like Anthony, about dignity, hope and forgiveness. They learnt about the love of God. They memorised Philippians 4:13. Two of the martyrs went on to teach in Mama Maggie’s schools when they got older. 

So, when their time came, on that beach in Libya, they did not cower in fear before the black-garbed cowards who would kill them. They looked up, their eyes on heaven, and died whispering the name of Jesus. And in that moment, they learnt the utter, enormous reality about how human beings can indeed do all things, through the eternal power of Christ who strengthens us. 

As the mother of 29-year-old Samuel Abraham said: “We thank ISIS. Now more people believe in Christianity because of them. ISIS showed what Christianity is. We thank God that our relatives are in heaven.” 

Mama Maggie came to Washington DC in March. She spoke at a gathering of our friends. She described the 21 young men who died because they would not deny Christ, and gave a challenge to us all. 

“It is not the length of our days that matters,” she said in her characteristic soft voice. “We have no control over how long we live. No, it is the depth of our days … and we do have control over that, as we decide to truly follow Jesus.”

Ellen Vaughn is a Senior Fellow at the 21st Century Wilberforce Initiative, and author or co-author of 20 books. Her latest is Mama Maggie: the Untold Story of One Woman’s Mission to Love the Forgotten Children of Egypt’s Garbage Slums, written with Marty Makary, published by Thomas Nelson. Parts of this article are extracted from the book. To support the work of Stephen’s Children, visit stephenschildren.org. To find out more about the 21st Century Wilberforce Initiative and its work for persecuted Christians abroad, visit 21wilberforce.org

This article first appeared in the latest edition of the Catholic Herald magazine (03/4/15).

Take up our special subscription offer – 12 issues currently available for just £12!

http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/issues/april-3rd-2015/the-angel-among-the-garbage-pickers/

10 Powerful Ways to Enter Into Good Friday

On this Good Friday...

1. Please take a moment to watch this amazing video by Father Robert Barron.

2. Pray the short prayer my grandmother taught me (33x before 3pm -- or sometime before the day is over)

O my Jesus, my thy sorrowful passion and most bitter death, and that of thy sorrowful Mother, assist us in our most urgent necessity __________________Name need(s) here. 

(Some of the things I prayed for: the conversion of all hearts, for all to come to know the love of God, for the conversion of all extremists, all terrorists, for those being persecuted and martyred, for all families and marriages, for those at the point of death today, for all the sick and suffering ones, all that I've promised to pray for, those who are most in need of God's mercy, for the end to all abortions, for those in China who are forced to have abortions.... etc.).

3. Begin praying the powerful Divine Mercy Chaplet Novena which Jesus gave to St. Faustina.  Bookmark this site to read further and to listen to Fr. Gaitley's talk on Divine Mercy at some other time (maybe tomorrow).

Peter Paul Rubens Crucifixion

4. Pray the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary. There is a grassroots effort to get everyone in America to unite in praying the Rosary today, remembering the miraculous power of our prayers against evil.  Evidenced in the great miracle of Christian Europe against extremist Muslim forces set to destroy it.  Pope Pius V called for all of Europe to unite together to fight them and to pray the rosary.  The end result was that the Christian forces demolished the overwhelmingly superior Muslim fleet at the Battle of Lepanto on Oct 7, 1571.  Pope Pius V attributed this great victory to the power of rosary, and the Church has since always celebrated the Feast of the Holy Rosary on Oct. 7th every year.

5. Use Scripture to enter more deeply into today's mysteries.  Either while praying the Rosary or at another time, actually read and meditate on one of the passion narratives of the four Gospels: Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23 or John 19.  Or read Passion Psalm 22.

6. Make the Stations of the Cross.  Click here for meditations by Mother Angelica.

7.  Attend Good Friday Services, hear the Passion, venerate and kiss the Cross of our Savior with your Church community, and receive Holy Communion.  Click on Masstimes.org for a location near you.

8. Paint Easter Eggs, the symbol of new life.

9. Plant New Life --flowers, etc.  When we  plant something, it symbolizes the power of Jesus' death and resurrection, Who brings all things to life for those who believe.

10. Sing O Sacred Heart Surrounded:

O SACRED HEAD SURROUNDED - Translated by Henry Baker (Public Domain)

1. O Sacred Head surrounded
By crown of piercing thorn!
O bleeding Head so wounded,
Reviled and put to scorn!
Death's pallid hue comes o'er Thee,
The glow of life decays,
Yet angel hosts adore Thee,
And tremble as they gaze.

2.   I see Thy strength and vigor
All fading in the strife,
And death with cruel rigor,
Bereaving Thee of life:
O agony and dying!
O love to sinners free!
Jesus, all grace supplying,
O turn Thy face on me.

3.  In this, Thy bitter passion,
Good shepherd, think of me,
With Thy most sweet compassion,
Unworthy though I be:
Beneath Thy cross abiding,
Forever would I rest;
In Thy dear love confiding,
And with Thy presence blest.

4.  But death too is my ending;
In that dread hour of need,
My friendless cause befriending,
Lord, to my rescue speed:
Thyself, O Jesus, trace me,
Right passage to the grave,
And from Thy cross embrace me,
With arms outstretched to save.

God bless you this Good Friday and always!

© Janet Moore 2015. All Rights Reserved.

Fun, Easy and Meaningful!! Easter Resurrection Roll Recipe

Want a simple, easy, and yummy way to celebrate Easter with your family that goes beyond coloring eggs?  

Regardless of age, all members of your family will enjoy this tasty, (and meaningful!) breakfast item.  When my second son was in first grade, the teacher (the wonderful and sweet Mrs. Stewart) asked all the parents to share their child's favorite recipe.  She put all the recipes into a simple homemade cookbook that she shared with us.  The cookbook has been a treasure for us and one that we used often.  Even now, when my son is 25 years old, we still have it! :)  One of the favorite recipes we have used year after year is The Resurrection Rolls.

They are unbelievably yummy, easy, quick and fun for little ones to help with -- and end up looking like an empty tomb! So they provide a great way to celebrate and speak of the meaning of Easter at the same time!

Ingredients:
1 package of Crescent Rolls
1/3 to 1/2 cup of brown sugar mixed
1 to 1 1/2 T of cinnamon
8 Large marshmallows
1/3 to 1/2 cup of butter/ margarine

(The initial recipe called for 1/2 c of the brown sugar and butter, but it was always too much, so I just have ended up reducing them some, but basically just eyeball it).

Preparation:
Preheat oven according to the directions on the Crescent Roll package.
Spray or grease Cookie Sheet well or use a silicone baking sheet or parchment paper. This is a necessary step as they get messy!

Directions:
Make an assembly line with crescent roll sections divided and ready and marshmallows
Use 2 small bowls (we use cereal bowls)
One for the melted butter
One for the cinnamon and sugar mixture
Dip the marshmallows in the butter, then in the cinnamon sugar bowl until well coated

Put the marshmallow in the middle of the large end of crescent roll and roll to cover, then fold the sides up and over the marshmallow mound you've created --making sure you fold the marshmallow up well by pinching together the ends of the dough.

The better you do this, the better the empty tomb effect will be!
Likewise, the less efficiently you pinch together the dough, the less you will recognize an empty tomb, instead you will have an oozy, gooey sticky and flat crescent roll after baking -- but still unbelievably yummy! :) So, no worries!

Bake according to package directions.

While waiting for the rolls to bake, this is a perfect opportunity to connect and talk about Easter and what the Resurrection of Jesus means-- by reading or telling the Bible story, asking your kids questions ... or sharing family traditions, etc.

Take out when golden and let cool a few minutes... but not too long, as the Resurrection Rolls are best when still warm and gooey!

Enjoy!!! And may your family have a Happy, Joyous and Blessed Easter!!!!

Jesus Has Risen!  Alleluia!

© Janet Moore 2015. All Rights Reserved.

Photo Credit:http://www.pexels.com/photo/5149/