Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Lent
(Daniel
3:14-20.91-92.95; John 8:31-42)
Pope
Francis was warned that he was taking a risk in going to Iraq. Believing that the Christians there needed
support, he went anyway. While in the
city of Mosul, which was ravaged by ISIS five years ago, the pope spotted three
children and an elderly man. Although
they were Muslim, the pope had his car stopped, went over to the children, and blessed
them. A Muslim historian commented that
he could see the city as the most beautiful in the world “because I saw it
through the eyes of the pope.” Pope
Francis’ love for the suffering encapsulates what Jesus means in today’s
gospel.
Jesus is
speaking with those Jews “who believed in him.”
They are likely people who are fascinated by his healings but unwilling
to change their ways. Jesus challenges
them to be true disciples by “remain(ing) in his word.” He means that they must acknowledge the
Father’s love for them by caring for one another. The people, however, retort that they are
already children of God because they are of the family of Abraham. Jesus then tells them that being born into a
family does not qualify anyone as a child of God. One must live as he has taught them.
It is not
easy. One Iraqi woman told the pope on
his visit that she is trying to forgive the terrorists who murdered her
son. Forgiving one’s mortal enemies
culminates the lessons that Jesus gives.
Most of us are still trying to recognize that others have virtues that often
surpass our own.
