Thursday, March 18, 2021

 Thursday of the Fourth Week of Lent

(Exodus 32:7-14; John 5:31-47)

To appreciate today’s readings, we have to consider the argument between the Christian minority and Jewish majority in late first century. The Gospel of John was written in the midst of this argument.  The Jews were reforming after the Roman invasion and destruction of the Temple.  They looked upon followers of Christ as schismatics, not worthy to be treated as brothers.  Christians, to the contrary, saw themselves as the authentic Israel because they followed Jesus, God’s authentic prophet.

The first reading shows Israelites deviating from God’s ways in the desert, soon after the adoption of the covenant.  They worship a golden calf rather than the spiritual God who rescued them from slavery.  In the gospel Jesus challenges the Jews for continuing the errant beliefs of their ancestors.  He cites their rejection of him as the “Son of God” as evidence of their ignorance of Scripture.  He tells them that not only his healings but also the Scriptures testify to him.  They show that he is the prophet of whom Moses once spoke.  (That testimony is not in today’s reading but can be found in the Book of Deuteronomy.)

We don’t want to get involved in the first century argument.  Rather we should find the Lord challenging us if we have faithfully followed Jesus.  Most of all, Jesus showed us how to love truly.  It is done not by making sentimental attempts to please others.  Rather, loving is a matter of enabling others to experience the presence of the Lord Jesus.

Thursday, March 26, 2020

Thursday of the Fourth Week of Lent

(Exodus 32:7-14; John 5:31-47)

In John’s gospel after Jesus is arrested, he is not taken before the Sanhedrin for a trial.  There is a brief questioning by a former high priest, but no witnesses are called.  There is no “Jewish trial” in John’s gospel.  Instead there are a series of interrogations of Jesus and testimonies for and against him throughout the work.  In today’s gospel passage Jesus presents evidence in his defense. 

Jesus first cites John the Baptist.  He says that John testified to the truth that is incarnate in Jesus.  Then Jesus brings up the mighty works of healing that he has done.  He also says the Father has given testimony on his behalf.  John does not have the Father speaking of Jesus from a cloud.  He may have in mind God’s mercy demonstrated in today’s first reading.  Jesus everywhere exhibits God’s mercy that refuses to destroy a rebellious people.  Finally, Scripture testifies to Jesus by prophesying of the coming Messiah.

The Jews will not accept Jesus’ witnesses.  But we do.  No one has ever spoken or lived quite like Jesus.  He not only lived an implicitly pure life, but he also died testifying to the Father’s love for the world.  As his disciples will say later in the gospel, we have nowhere to turn but to Jesus.

Thursday, April 4, 2019

Thursday of the Fourth Week of Lent

(Exodus 32:7-14; John 5:31-47)

Astute readers of the gospel will note that there is no trial of Jesus in John’s Passion narrative.  They will ask why Jesus is brought before the Sanhedrin in the Passion narratives of Matthew, Mark, and Luke but not in the fourth gospel’s.  Of course, they have a point.  But it is not that there is no trial of Jesus before Jews in the Gospel of John.  Rather he is continually on trial.  Today's gospel passage presents an example. 

The Jews are harassing Jesus because he has healed a paralytic on the Sabbath.  They want to know by what authority did he do so.  Jesus responds by bringing forth witnesses.  His first witness is John the Baptist who said that he saw the Spirit come down to rest on Jesus.  The second testimony that Jesus presents is his mighty works.  He has turned water into wine and cured the royal official’s son as well as the paralytic.  These deeds likewise testify that Jesus is from God.  The third witness is none less than God the Father who prepared the way for Jesus.  As today’s first reading relates, the Father spared the people in Sinai where they had begun to worship an idol.  Jesus is implying that God was merciful that day so that the people’s descendants might see Jesus in whom their numbers will multiply exponentially. 

We live in a time when fewer and fewer of the people in our midst believe that Jesus is God.  They find him a great man but not necessarily any more divine than the Buddha or Socrates.  We must present ourselves as witnesses to Jesus’ divinity along with those whom Jesus names in today’s gospel.  We do so by talking about him with those whom we meet.  We improve on our verbal testimony by following his teaching of love for all.

Thursday, March 30, 2017

Thursday of the Fourth Week of Lent

(Exodus 32:7-14; John 5:31-47)

The Reformation of the sixteenth century brought forth both good and evil.  It did helpfully emphasize the centrality of Scripture and faith in the Christian tradition.  It also ushered a period of intense division, even religious warfare.  Now it seems that Pope Francis is effecting a new era.  He may become “the reformer of the reformers.”  He seems to be unifying many Christian groups in giving testimony to the Lord with fraternal love and charity.  This stance resembles that of Jesus makes in today’s gospel.

The Pharisees are harassing Jesus.  Believing in their own righteousness, they accuse Jesus of breaking the Law by healing on the Sabbath.  They do not see that he is – quite the contrary -- fulfilling God’s will.  In the first reading the Lord criticizes the people of Israel for being “stiff-necked.”  He gives them the Law as a way to reform themselves.  The Pharisees have embraced the Law but are likewise becoming “stiff-necked.”  They stubbornly refuse to see that they worship an idol of their own making – not a material object but proprieties that substitute for virtue.  Jesus calls their attention to what is truly important – love of God that is expressed by assistance to the needy.

We have left behind the superficial gods of power, pleasure, and prestige.  Now we must press on by engraving ever deeper in our hearts the need to honor God by doing His will.  It is no mean task in a world whose values often seem like a gale blowing against us.  But we will accomplish our objective if we rely on the grace offered us through Jesus Christ in this Eucharist.

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Thursday of the Fourth Week of Lent

(Exodus 32:7-14; John 5:31-47)

It's takes no great insight to see that in planning soccer games on Sunday mornings society is replacing religion with physical fitness.  Sure, some families faithfully hustle to church at another hour during the day, but most are content to substitute competition for worship on the Lord's Day.  Today’s first reading recalls the Israelites in the desert also forsaking God.

Tired of waiting on the Lord, the people take religion into their own hands and create objects of worship for themselves.  It is a familiar story.  Rebellious hearts refuse to accept the legacy that has been handed down to them and search for something different to treasure and worship.  In the gospel Jesus pleads with the Jews to accept him as the faithful interpreter of the Mosaic covenant who has come to reestablish the closeness of the people to God. They, however, content with their structures of privilege would prefer that he just leave the premises.

We must take care to live our faith as it has been handed on to us.  This entails not only attending mass on Sundays but also not hankering after fulfillment from pleasure, power, or athletic prowess.  Stated simply, it means to follow Jesus in his love for his Father and all our brothers and sisters.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Thursday of the Fourth Week in Lent

(Exodus 32:7-14; John 5:31-47)

“The world is too much with us,” the poet William Wordsworth lamented two hundred years ago. If anything, the presence of the mundane has increased in the interim. Because of its inherent goodness, the world has been first glorified and then idolized. Thus, we see many people hankering after the super-lottery and new pharmaceutical aphrodisiacs.

Of course, the condition is much more than two centuries old. It befalls the Israelites in the desert as the reading from Exodus today indicates. The golden calf stands at once for God and a pagan deity. Its luster is supposed to convey the awesomeness of God, but, defying God’s prohibition of craven images, the calf becomes a testament to the human inclination to divinize wayward desires.

As Moses pleads with God for mercy toward the Israelites, Jesus argues with the people to accept his testimony. His miracles have shown that he is from God. His words have transmitted divine wisdom. But the people, forever desirous of demonstrations of power, fail to recognize Jesus’ prophecy. Heeding his arguments, we need to do better. We not only have to accept Jesus as God’s emissary but have to recognize him as “true God from true God,” to be followed completely and unreservedly.

Homilette for Thursday, March 26, 2009

Thursday of the Fourth Week in Lent

(Exodus 32:7-14; John 5:31-47)

“The world is too much with us,” the poet William Wordsworth lamented two hundred years ago. If anything, the presence of the mundane has increased in the interim. Because of its inherent goodness, the world has been glorified and idolized. Many people make gods out of its characteristic representatives -- money, sex, and power.

Of course, the condition is much more than two centuries old. It befalls the Israelites in the desert as the reading from Exodus today indicates. The golden calf stands at once for God and a pagan deity. Its representation of power and glory is supposed to convey the idea of the awesomeness of God. But defying God’s prohibition of craven images, the calf becomes a testament to the human will’s tendency to chuck God aside in order to pursue its own desires.

As Moses pleads with God for mercy toward the stiff-necked people, Jesus argues with the people to accept the testimony of their invisible God. In a significant albeit gentle way Jesus has demonstrated that he is from God. His words contain wisdom and his deeds bring relief to the poor. But the people, forever seeking demonstrations of dominance, fail to recognize his prophecy. We must not be so blinded by the glitter of the world. We must let go of inordinate desire for money, sex, and power. We must seek Jesus’ wisdom and goodness.