Friday
of the Fourth Week of Lent
(Wisdom 2:1a.12-22;
John 7:1-2.10.25-30)
The boy’s
family had a custom at Easter. Each year
they made an Easter pie filled with eggs, cheese, and sausage. The sausage was prepared in January and hung
on the family’s porch to dry. In the middle
of Lent, the boy entered his grandmother’s house and looked for the sausage. He wanted to taste it, but his family said, “Not
yet.” It was not dried enough to be eaten. He would have to wait until Easter.
In a
similar way today’s gospel declares that Jesus’ “hour had not come.” God is in control of all that is happening. Jesus will not be arrested until God prepares
for it. Only After that will Jesus’
glory be revealed. He will give up his
life on the feast of the Jewish Passover Feast to show that his sacrifice is
the new Passover. More than rescue a
people from slavery, Jesus’ sacrifice will save humankind from damnation.
We are
waiting for the reenactment of these salvific mysteries. The time is almost here. Still, however, we are to sacrifice and
pray. A full preparation should find us ready
to be renewed as Christ’s faithful witnesses.
