I will tell you a secret. I love Jesus.
Okay, so it’s not so much a secret, but there is something secretive about those words, is there not? It is no secret that a family loves one another, but the way in which that love is exchanged between, say, a father and one of his sons will differ with the other or with his daughter or with his wife. That specific love which he shares uniquely with each is a secretive love. Its existence is evident; its content, unknowable. In this way, my love for Jesus is both shared and guarded—it is at the same time expressed and withheld—it is for you and all the world; it is exclusively mine.
In a way Easter presents us with this dynamic. Jesus is risen, but he’s appearing first here to Mary Magdalen, then there to Peter and John, and later to the two on their way to Emmaus. He’s allowing each their own personal interaction with his resurrection—something they don’t have to share—something they can only hope all will have. His resurrection is at the same time for each personally and for all. And so we find that the deeper this secret roots itself in the soul, the more one will have to talk about it. The more profoundly we long for the risen Christ, the more pressing is our desire to shake the world from its slumber that they too may run out to meet him. And so your life with Christ becomes both hidden and revealed.
And while I hope the whole world cannot escape the clamoring of our hearts for him, there must always remain this personal, hidden rendezvous. No one else is there when you lay your head upon your pillow and have one final conversation with Him who will be the last one to tuck you in and the first to awaken you in the morning. Your every day is seasoned with moments no one else will ever have access to but Christ. It is in this sense we are able to share our life with Jesus in secret.
These words, “I love Jesus,” are words you could shout from the rooftops (it may not be a bad idea), but they are also words you should be able to whisper when no one else is around. They are words you will understand for yourself in a way no one else can.
+ Br. Joseph Michael Fino, CFR
Paterson, NJ
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Okay, so it’s not so much a secret, but there is something secretive about those words, is there not? It is no secret that a family loves one another, but the way in which that love is exchanged between, say, a father and one of his sons will differ with the other or with his daughter or with his wife. That specific love which he shares uniquely with each is a secretive love. Its existence is evident; its content, unknowable. In this way, my love for Jesus is both shared and guarded—it is at the same time expressed and withheld—it is for you and all the world; it is exclusively mine.
In a way Easter presents us with this dynamic. Jesus is risen, but he’s appearing first here to Mary Magdalen, then there to Peter and John, and later to the two on their way to Emmaus. He’s allowing each their own personal interaction with his resurrection—something they don’t have to share—something they can only hope all will have. His resurrection is at the same time for each personally and for all. And so we find that the deeper this secret roots itself in the soul, the more one will have to talk about it. The more profoundly we long for the risen Christ, the more pressing is our desire to shake the world from its slumber that they too may run out to meet him. And so your life with Christ becomes both hidden and revealed.
And while I hope the whole world cannot escape the clamoring of our hearts for him, there must always remain this personal, hidden rendezvous. No one else is there when you lay your head upon your pillow and have one final conversation with Him who will be the last one to tuck you in and the first to awaken you in the morning. Your every day is seasoned with moments no one else will ever have access to but Christ. It is in this sense we are able to share our life with Jesus in secret.
These words, “I love Jesus,” are words you could shout from the rooftops (it may not be a bad idea), but they are also words you should be able to whisper when no one else is around. They are words you will understand for yourself in a way no one else can.
+ Br. Joseph Michael Fino, CFR
Paterson, NJ
------------------------------
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