Monday, March 21, 2016

Monday of Holy Week

(Isaiah 42:1-7; John 12:1-11)

In our day dead bodies are increasingly cremated.  There seems to be an urgency to get on with life after the death of a loved one.  The dead are memorialized with a service showing photos of them at significant junctures and telling stories of their peculiarities.  Whatever value these modern rituals have, they cannot appreciate what is happening in today’s gospel.

Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, anoints Jesus “’for the day of (his) burial.’”  Her action will preserve the body of Jesus at least for a while after his impending death.  It will enable all the living at the time to remember his goodness perhaps until they too pass on.  It is not the waste of resources that Judas claims.  Quite the contrary, the anointing will allow Jesus’ gracious life to influence his friends in constructive ways.

Virtuous human actions are often transcended by God’s.  In this case Mary’s anointing of Jesus as a way to remember him cedes to God’s raising him from the dead.  The resurrection enables even us today to experience the presence of Jesus as an impetus to faithful and loving living.

Friday, March 18, 2016

Friday of the Fifth Week in Lent

(Jeremiah 20:10-13; John 10:31-42)

Among the gestures made in church we bow to the altar.  Some perhaps think that they are reverencing the tabernacle which is often placed behind the altar.  But the altar itself is a symbol of Jesus.  We bow to him.  The gospel today indicates the association.

The setting is the Jewish feast of the dedication of the Temple altar.  Jesus came to Jerusalem to celebrate.  His cure of the man born blind created a controversy among the Jews.  Now he is being besieged.  He is to say whether or not he is the Messiah. He tells the Jews that God has consecrated him just as He consecrated the Temple altar.  In fact, he implies, he will replace the temple altar as the locus of true worship. 

We see the fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecy in the crucifixion. On the cross Jesus offers himself as the perfect sacrifice which redeems humanity.  It makes up not only for our individual sins but also for the multiplication of guilt oppressing humanity.  As we enter Holy Week, we want to contemplate the meaning both of Jesus’ sacrifice and of our following him.

Thursday, March 17, 2016

Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent

                                                      

(Genesis 17:3-9; John 8:51-59)

St. Patrick was born in Roman Britain, a vast area that included Gaul and Scotland.  Since his native country was Christian, he was baptized at an early age.  He was taken by pagan raiders of his homeland to Ireland as a slave.  Eventually he escaped his captors, returned to Britain, and became a priest and bishop.  He returned to Ireland as a missionary working to convert the native pagans.  Like the Jews in today’s gospel, many resisted Patrick’s efforts.

Reading the gospels, one has difficulty distinguishing the setting.  It may be the Judea at the time of Jesus or perhaps the situation when the evangelists were writing.  The fierce opposition of the Jews toward Jesus in today’s passage reflects a time after the resurrection.  The Jews are reacting to Christian claims not only of Jesus’ divinity but also of the need to modify their established customs.  They believe that Christians are wavering from the path that Abraham set.  Meanwhile, Christians claim that Jesus transcends Abraham because he exists as the eternal Son of God.

We have thrown our lot with Christ.  This means that we “keep his word” as we hear today.  We are to love our enemies as sisters and brothers of the same Father in heaven.  Often love requires patience, even toleration.  It is not easy, but it is the way of the cross beside our blessed Lord.

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Wednesday of the Fifth Week in Lent

(Daniel 3:14-20.91-92.95; John 8:31-42)

In a movie about the revolution in Nicaragua, a peasant boy tells an American helicopter pilot that he wants to fly.  The airman takes the boy for a ride in his helicopter, but the flight does not satisfy the boy’s desire.  He explains that he wants to fly like a bird, not to be transported in a flying machine.

The story illustrates the lesson that Jesus gives in the gospel today.  The Jews think they are free because they are not slaves of anyone.  But this is very limited freedom.  Jesus would provide them full freedom where they could act as righteously as they deeply desire.  It is the freedom of Yo-yo Ma on the cello or Venus Williams on the tennis court.

As Jesus says, freedom comes from accepting him as God’s Son.  He brings the rule of life that disengages us from attachments to fortune, fame, and force and sets our sights on eternal life.  He accomplishes this by sending us the Holy Spirit.  The grace of the Holy Spirit is what the coming Easter season is all about.

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent

(Numbers 21:4-9; John 8:21-30)

The Reverend William Sloan Coffin Jr., a prominent peace activist, used to say that he had a “lover’s quarrel with America.”  He served the country as a CIA agent but thought some of its international policies were wrong-headed.  We might see Jesus in today’s gospel as having “a lover’s quarrel” with Judaism.

Jesus is in the midst of a debate with the Jews.  He is, of course, Jewish himself but is opposing standard Jewish teaching.  He tells them that he has much to say to condemn current Jewish doctrine.  He concludes that when he is lifted up on the cross, the world will know that his criticisms of Judaism are just.

We should realize that the dialogue in this gospel was framed long after Jesus’ death.  Christians and Jews were much at odds because of Roman persecution of both.  John, the evangelist, writes as if Jesus defies his own people.  This is likely an exaggeration.  But it is true that Jews cannot accept Jesus’ divinity as we do.  A central issue is Jesus’ death on the cross.  For Jews it is the ultimate stumbling block. “How could God allow himself to be crucified?” they ask.  For us Jesus’ allowing himself to be crucified in obedience to God, his Father, indicates his divine nature.