Monday of the
Fifth Week in Lent
(Daniel 13:1-9.15-17.19-30.33-62; John 8:12-20)
Once a rabbi gathered his disciples round him. He then asked, “How does one know when night
ends and day begins”? “When you can
distinguish between the olive and the fig trees in your garden?” answered one
disciple. “No,” the master said, “that is not right.” Another student tried, “When you can tell the
difference between a cow and a dog on the horizon.” Again the rabbi said, “I am sorry. You don’t
have the correct answer either.” The
disciples, a bit frustrated, raised their voices together. “Tell us,” they said, “when does the night end
and the day begin?” The rabbi replied, “All
right, the night ends and the day begins when you can look into a stranger’s
eye and see a brother. Until then, you
are walking in darkness.”
In today’s gospel, Jesus presents himself as the light of
the world who enables humans to see strangers as sister and brothers. He commands love for all – friend or foe – so
that people may live in solidarity. He shows
himself wiser than Daniel in the first reading who ferrets out the truth to
save the innocent Susanna. Jesus is
wiser because he goes beyond justice to reconciliation with one’s enemies.
As Lent winds down, we might take a personal
inventory. Let us ask ourselves if we
have grown in love through our Lenten sacrifices. Do we pray that those who persecute others may
reform? Do we affirm the good in those
whom we dislike? Are we patient with the
shortcomings of those with whom we live?
Like the forty-year journey of the Israelites through the desert, the
purpose of Lent is to mold us into God’s holy people. We have arrived at our destination when we love
all people from the heart.
