Saturday, March 28, 2020

Saturday of the Fourth Week of Lent, March 28, 2020

(Jeremiah 11:18-20; John 7:40-53)

If we listen for the Jewish trial of Jesus in the reading of the Passion on Good Friday, we will be disappointed.  Unlike Matthew and Mark, John does not show the Sanhedrin meeting to review the evidence, listen to witnesses, and render a verdict.  But careful observers will note how John runs a trial throughout the first part of the gospel.  Jesus is continually being questioned, and people are brought to give testimony about him.  Today’s gospel highlights this ongoing inquiry of the Jews about Jesus’ activities.

First, the Jews try to establish Jesus’ identity.  Is he the long awaited prophet promised by Moses, the Davidic Messiah who will lead the people to freedom, or a charlatan?  They do not achieve unanimity, but nonpartisan guards testify that no one has ever spoken like him.  The Pharisees act like prosecuting attorneys in the trial.  Hostile to Jesus, they try to discredit Nicodemus and everyone else who speaks in Jesus’ defense.

We readers of John’s gospel may want to involve ourselves in the proceedings.  Although we may have gone to church all our lives, many of us wonder about Jesus.  Like the Jews, we ask, “Is he really God?”  We want to know if following him will bring us through death to eternal happiness.  Or is Jesus, however talented, just a man incapable of delivering all he claims?  From anyone else, we would dismiss such talk as “pie in the sky.”  However, we must admit something different about him.  His wisdom, his preaching, his healings, his demonstrated love for others -- all justify a positive verdict.  And then there is the testimony of the saints through the ages. Yes, he is Lord and we would betray our deepest intuition not to follow him to the end.

Friday, March 27, 2020

Friday of the Fourth Week of Lent

(Wisdom 2:1a.12-22; John 7:1-2.10.25-30)

Even today a few Catholic churches cover statues and images during Lent.  The practice is connected with today’s gospel which used to be read on the Sunday before Palm Sunday.  Because the passage says that the Jerusalemites could not arrest Jesus, it is assumed that he is nowhere to be seen.  Thus, he and the saints who reflect his glory are covered as to be likewise not seen.

The gospel passage perhaps more importantly relates the ignorance of the people of whom Jesus is.  They see him as a false prophet, one who claims to speak on God’s behalf but does not.  He is, of course, a true prophet and more – God’s own Son.  At the crucifixion in Luke’s gospel Jesus pleads to his Father on behalf of his executioners.  He begs that they be forgiven since they do not know what they are doing.  The Gospel of John conveys the same realization here albeit without the prayer for forgiveness.

However much the people’s ignorance of Jesus is in the gospel, we should not be found guilty of the same fault.  Excellent understandings like Pope Benedict’s three-volume study Jesus of Nazareth are available.  The more we know of him, the closer we will want to follow him.  And the more we do that, the happier will be our reception into eternal life.

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.

Wednesday, March 25, 2020

Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord

(Isaiah 7:10-14.8:10; Hebrews 10:4-10; Luke 1:26-38)

A movie of a couple years back features a young man sailing his boat around the world.  He is friendly and, of course, resourceful.  At one point he explains why he is not pursuing a career like most people his age.  He says that he was studying at the British naval academy with his father’s blessing.  Then, he adds, he decided he wanted to live his own life, not his father’s.  The remark distances this young man not only from his father but also from the two prominent figures of today’s Scripture readings.

The Letter to the Hebrews explains how animal sacrifices could not take away sins.  They pretend to be a self-donation of the person making an offering.  But they always turn out more like a tit-for-tat deal bartering with God for cancellation of a debt.  Christ, however, did make a worthy sacrifice when he gave himself up to death according to his Father’s will.  Without sin himself, his sacrifice on the cross purged the sins of all his followers.  Mary in the gospel passage likewise sacrifices herself to do the will of God.  Being chosen to give birth virginally may sound like an exciting opportunity.   But to a devout Jewish maiden of the first century it must have seemed very strange.  Yet Mary accedes to God’s request.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to make choices for ourselves if those choices conform to God’s will for us.  Sooner or later, however, we can count on God calling us to do something we would rather not do.  Then as followers of Jesus, we must imitate his obedience to the Father’s will.  It may be something as simple as passing by an invitation to a baseball game to assist a sick cousin.  In any case we are to do what God wills, not what we will.

Tuesday, March 24, 2020

Tuesday of the Fourth Week in Lent

(Ezekiel 47:1-9.12; John 5:1-16)

Anyone can have a bath at the shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes.  There is no cost.  Assistants will help the aged and sick as well as the healthy prepare themselves.  Privacy is paramount.  Photos, even while waiting in line outside the baths, are prohibited.  The experience will heal the soul if not the body.   Pilgrims witness the faith of the people and the service of volunteer assistants.  God feels as close to them as ever.   Today’s gospel speaks of an even greater closeness to God.

The paralytic is waiting for someone to assist him enter the healing pool of Bethesda.  Jesus offers his services.  Since he is the source of “living water,” he does not carry him into the pool.  He only tells the paralytic to get up and walk, and the man miraculously does so.  Jesus’ miracle does not require faith on the part of its beneficiary.  Rather his sovereign authority works wonders as he wills.

We should take another look at Jesus. He is not only a healer and a teacher, but also the Lord who can work wonders for us.  We want to submit to his will.  It is not only that he requires it of us.  But also in doing his will we find our truest happiness.