BY

 Sr. JANET WAZIRI, OLF

“In life, it’s not where you go, it’s who you travel with ” _  Charles Schulz

INTRODUCTION:

To go on a love trip is to embark on a journey with one whom you love. The two people in love travel to a place where they can be all by themselves, with as much comfort as they can afford. The venue is specially and carefully chosen with the aim of having comfort and at the same time avoiding distractions.

It takes two to embark on a love trip though one person conceives and sells the idea to the other. If the other person buys the idea, they begin to plan where, when and how it is going to be. But if on the other hand the other person does not buy the idea, it ends there because it just cannot work since one person cannot go and someone cannot be forced to go.

Where it works, going on a love trip can be exciting because it gives one the opportunity of being with your love in a very unique and exclusive way.

The Lenten season is one  of the most important seasons in the Church’s calendar. It is a period of forty (40) days from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday with the exception of Sundays; set aside by the Church to help her children to enter into the mystery of the passion and death of our Lord Jesus Christ in preparation for Easter.

Jesus Christ our beloved Lord desires an intimate relationship with me. He wants me to know and understand him better so that I can love him more. To capture my attention, there is no better time than Lent. He desires to take me out of myself in order to speak to my heart and so he says: “But look, I am going to seduce her and lead her into the desert and speak to her heart.” (Hosea 2:16)

PREPARING FOR A LOVE TRIP:

To embark on a love trip, one has to abandon everything else in order to be with and for the beloved. It takes a person truly in love to abandon everything so as to devote quality time to be with the beloved.

Since it is a very special trip, one must take time to prepare and settle all that needs to be settled in order to avoid distractions during the trip. Instructions and orders are given appropriately and necessary delegations done accordingly.

Clothes, shoes and accessories are carefully and specially chosen to attract the attention of and impress the beloved. The number of clothes and fashion accessories to be taken depends on how long the trip will last.

As one prepares for the trip physically, care is also taken to ensure emotional, psychological, social, mental and all round preparation. This is essential otherwise so many things will crop up to disrupt the trip.

In preparing for my love trip with the Lord, I have to be ready to abandon everything else in order to give him the required attention. I must be ready to do everything possible to avoid distraction so as to give him my full attention. I must be accessible and available to the Lord always. I must consciously make out time to be with him on daily basis through reading of the scriptures and visiting him in the Blessed Sacrament. He must be the most important person taking charge of every moment of the day.

I must let go of past hurts (Philippians 3:13). I must forgive others and myself (Psalm

103:10-11). I must refrain from holding grudges and keeping malice (Ephesians 4:31). I must try by all means to be at peace with everyone ( Romans 12:18). I must love my neighbour as myself (Mark 12:31).

THE JOURNEY:

Once everything is set on both sides and  the long awaited day arrives, the journey can begin. As the “love birds” set out on the journey, the adventure begins from the first step taken. Therefore, the route and the means of transportation chosen are such that would give room for enough fun and adventure. As they proceed, important sites along the way are either beheld or visited as part of the adventure. They beam with smiles as they converse with each other and draw each other’s attention to attractive things and sites.

Each person tries as much as possible to think of the other, therefore every action is taken in consideration and for the good of the other. They chat along about themselves and issues of common interests. They stop over for refreshments and meals at designated places. My love trip with the Lord in the Lenten season is also full of adventure from the beginning to the end. On Ash Wednesday he reminded me of  the fact that I am dust and unto dust I shall, an information that is meant to make me humble and repentant. The route through which he is taking me is unique to me, therefore I must be attentive to give him the opportunity of showing and explaining the things I find along the way. The important sites to be beheld and visited are; daily Mass, Stations of the Cross, daily Rosary prayer  and meditation on the mysteries, daily visits to the Eucharistic Lord, my family, my place of work and as we go along noticing every person along the way and reaching out accordingly.

I have to be ready to smile all the way as we go along because the Lord has a great sense of humour. The author of Ecclesiastes in chapter 3:4 says that there is “A time for tears, a time for laughter; a time for mourning, a time for dancing. ” Truly so and since Jesus Christ was fully God and fully human, in as much as he cried (John 11:35), he also cracked jokes and laughed. In the account of the healing of Bartimaeus in Mark 10:51; Jesus asked, “What do you want me to do for you?” It was obvious that the man was blind and so wanted his sight restored. For Jesus the great healer and restorer of sight to ask a blind man that question is funny. This is because it was not in every case that he asked before healing John 9:1-7 is the account of the healing of the man born blind and Jesus did not ask before restoring the man’s sight.

THE CRUX:

“Life with Christ is a wonderful adventure” says St. John Paul II.

As in a love  trip where one is required to abandon all and be glued to the beloved listening to and doing what pleases the beloved, here also one must get glued to the Lord seeking only to please him. Throughout the season of Lent I am constantly reminded of the need to think less of myself and think more of Jesus the beloved, visible in others.

At the venue of the love trip, the two persons in love forgetting about everyone else and focusing on each other would talk about themselves and things of common interest. There is never an idle moment because they are so full of each other and concerned about making each other happy. It is a journey that keeps the beloved ever desiring and looking forward to the next minute.

A love trip with  the Lord gives me the opportunity to experience Jesus in his passion, death and resurrection, events that form the basis of our Christian faith. The Lord is ever ready to take me through this experience because he knows that after it I would not be the same, my faith will be increased and I would love him more.

During this season, the Lord specially invites his beloved for a love trip. In  this case, it is Jesus Christ who initiates  the idea and then throws the invitation to everyone. Like anyone deeply in love, he expects that I accept the invitation as he looks forward to the trip; yet he  cannot force me just as no one can force another person to go on a love trip. As one deeply in love, the Lord is anxiously waiting to cuddle me in his arms and whisper words of love into my ears. He looks forward to telling me how much he loves me and how much I mean to him (John 3:16). He just wants to tell me my place in his heart and in his prestigious family (Hebrews12:22). He wants to let me know how much he has missed me. He desires to tell me who I am and why he brought me into existence (Jer. 29:11). He wants to reveal to me those things that have kept me far away from him. He wants to let me know the damage that my staying away from him has caused

me (Isaiah 59:2). He wants to clean up the mess on me due to sin which has resulted in my disfigurement (Isaiah 1:18, Jeremiah 30:17). He just wants to create me anew and restore my lost joy, glory and beauty (2 Corinthians 5:17, Psalm 51:10,12). He wants to bring me back home from exile (Amos 9:14). He just wants me to take the bold step of moving towards him and he will hasten to meet me and celebrate my safe return (Luke 15:11-24). He wants me to come to him in sincere Conversion and repentance (Joel 2:13). It does not matter how  far I went and what I have been through, all that matters is my disposition towards his invitation.  It is a journey worth making because others have made the same kind of journey and never remained the same afterwards.

Every love trip demands a sacrifice and there’s always a price to pay. Therefore, the love trip with Jesus is not an exception. Though he invites anyone who is ready and willing, I  must not just hastily accept the invitation, I must think and reflect on the pros and cons so as not to return from the trip and go  back to my habitual sinful life; since it is a life – transforming journey. Therefore, time must be taken to prepare before embarking on the journey.

As a matter of fact, the following questions are necessary steps in the preparatory process. Is the journey worthwhile? Is it worth the trouble? Is it worth the sacrifice?

• Is the journey worthwhile?

Every love trip has an aim. The love trip that Jesus invites me to also has an aim, which is to help me to know him so that I can love him more. The journey brings Jesus and I at a very close range so I can have a personal and unique experience of him. When the Lord gets very close he illuminates my whole being and so I see myself as I really am, a sinner in need of his mercy and forgiveness. The realization of my filthiness before the Lord makes me sober and remorseful. This leads me to contrition and confession. As soon as I go to meet the Lord in the Sacrament of reconciliation (confession), peace and  joy are restored to me in such a way that I would not want to go back to that sinful state again. My not wanting to go back to my sinful state is for fear of losing the Lord, resulting in losing the beautiful relationship we have established with him and the peace and joy that goes with it.

• Is the journey worth the trouble?

It is a journey  of forty days with focus on Prayer, Fasting  and Almsgiving, which can be very demanding, stressful and energy sapping. It requires that I forget myself and just allow the Lord to lead wherever and whenever he pleases. During the season of Lent, the Lord challenges me more than ever to abandon my sinful ways in order to benefit from the salvation he purchased for me at the price of his precious blood (1 Peter 1:18-19). If I do not cooperate with him, I will end up in hell a place that was never meant for me (Matthew 25:41), thereby making heaven one person less. Jesus suffered to purchase my salvation and he invites me to take the path of suffering so as to gain eternal life (Matthew 16:24-26).

“Pain and suffering have come into your life, but remember pain, sorrow, suffering are but the kiss of Jesus. A sign that you have come so close to him that he can kiss you.” – St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta

As in every love trip each tries to impress the other by wearing clothes and accessories that are of the other’s colour and enjoy eating the other’s favourite meals, I must try to impress the Lord by doing things that will be attractive to  him and make him proud of me. I could help in cleaning the Church, Sanctuary or benches. I could take note of that neighbour of mine who needs someone to talk to and just devote some time to listening to him. I could make out time to clean up that old man/woman close  to me who has no one to care for him/her and clean up his/her room. I could make out time to visit the sick, the prisoners and the orphans. I could fast and give out the food that I would have eaten to that person close to me who has no food. I could devote some money to charity and give it out to the needy.

1. Prayer: As one on a love trip I must desire to be with my beloved 24/7 and it  is prayer that offers me this opportunity. At prayer I am united with my beloved Lord. At prayer I meet him personally and he speaks to me directly. Therefore, I must try to commune with the Lord always which is only possible if I must make him my companion by chatting with him as I go through the day, asking him questions and giving him the opportunity of helping me to make choices.
2. Fasting: During the season of Lent I am called to fast so that I  can give the meals foregone to those who do not have. If I fast and keep my food it does not make sense, because the idea is for me to deprive myself of food so that someone who should have gone hungry can have something to eat. Therefore, whatever I choose to fast from, must benefit someone otherwise I should have a rethink.
3. Almsgiving: I am called to give to the poor in order to in my own way help in improving their lives. My beloved urges me to see him in the poor and provide for him. Therefore, I should be generous with my attention so as to notice that hungry, thirsty, lonely or shabbily dressed person and reach out accordingly.

“Give something, however small, to the one in need. For it is not small to one who has nothing. Neither is it small to God, if we have given what we could.” – St. Gregory Nazianzen• Is it worth the sacrifice?

The trip is such that demands sacrifice. In fact no sacrifice, no Christianity. Some of the sacrifices I need to make are; developing the spirit of inner silence which helps me to be attentive to the Lord even when I am in a noisy environment. I must develop self-discipline which helps me to tame myself  and keep me faithful to my Lenten observances. I have to think less of myself and make others my priority. I have to be available, accessible and flexible for the Holy Spirit to move me as he pleases.

Nothing done for the Lord ever goes without reward, as such every sacrifice I make draws the Lord closer and closer to me. As I set out for an encounter with the Lord, he makes himself more available and accessible. As I thirst and yearn for him he rushes to satisfy my thirst. As I fast from food my spirit and soul will be nourished.

CONCLUSION:

The disciples on the road to Emmaus were joined by the Lord Jesus Christ as a fellow traveller. During that trip, Jesus explained the scriptures and prophecies about himself to them, that journey culminated in the breaking of break. The disciples were trying to put Jesus and all the mysteries surrounding him behind them, but Jesus followed until he became their travelling companion which led to his clearing their doubts and confusion. When Jesus became their travelling companion he fed them with the word and his body and blood.

A love trip with the Lord Jesus Christ in this season of Lent will enrich my life as Jesus feeds me with his presence, his word and his his body and blood. All I need do is to dare to accept his invitation and just give him the opportunity of being at the centre of my life this Lent. Doing  this will lead me to experiencing Jesus in such a way that I would want to continue even after Lent; like St. Paul the first hermit who went into the Egyptian desert to hide during the persecution of the Church under Emperor Trajanus Decius, but so enjoyed the presence of God there that he chose to remain there in a cave for the rest of his life.

There are different routes with different means of transportation to the same place depending on your location. Some will access the place by road through trekking, bicycle, motorcycle, tricycle or vehicle. Others will go by water through canoes, boats, ferry or ship. Still others by air through flights. Wherever you are located and whatever your route and means of transportation does not matter, what matters is that we meet at the end of the trip since our destination is same.

Have an enriching, life-giving, life-transforming, joyful and safe trip with  the Lord Jesus Christ, the best companion ever. See you at Easter after a refreshing and renewing trip.

Reference:

2019, https://www.first15.org>Encountering God through prayer

2019, https://www.theodysseyonline.com>11 life changing Saint Quotes

2011,A.J.M. Mausolfe& J.K. Mausolfe, Saint Companions for each day