Wednesday, April 6, 2022

 Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Lent

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

George Weigel wrote a well-regarded biography of St. John Paul II.  He probably knows as much about the revered pope as anyone.  Recently, Weigel commented that once St. John Paul was asked which biblical verse had affected him the most.  Weigel said the saint did not have to stop and think.  Immediately, John Paul II answered, John 8:31: “’And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’”  Jesus proclaims these words in today’s gospel.

A basic truth of human life is that men and women are sexual beings who are made to unify with one person of the other sex. People cannot choose their gender, nor can they have multiple unions.  Making the most of these truths by choosing wisely one’s spouse leads to fulfilling love.  The couple can have a family, pursue careers, and enjoy the variety of possibilities that life offers.

We live in an age when many have forsaken the truth in order to live life in their own way.  Some seek pleasure above all; others, power or adventure.  We must resist these temptations.  Living virtuously as people with an eternal destiny, we will have wonderful experiences.  If we seek him, we will come to know the Lord.  Then we will be ready to enjoy his gracious love forever.

Tuesday, April 5, 2022

 Tuesday of the Fifth Week in Lent

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

The Gospel of John is quite heady.  Its many plays on words require help to decipher.  In today’s passage Jesus says that when he is lifted the Jews will realize who he is.  Does he mean lifted up on the cross like Moses mounts lifts up a snake on a pole in the reading from the Book of Numbers? Or is he referring to the resurrection?  He means both.  In John’s gospel Jesus’ crucifixion is triumphal.  He has drawn everybody to himself – friends and foes; Romans and Jews.  He founds his church when he gives his mother to beloved disciple.  And, most importantly, he completes the work of salvation with his death.

Jesus’ odd-sounding self-reference “I AM” also needs explaining.  It is the Gospel of John’s cryptic way of referring to Jesus as God, the great “I am who am” in the Book of Exodus.  The gospel is declaring that people have to believe in Jesus as God to have their sins forgiven.  If they do not believe, they cannot be Jesus’ brothers and sisters.  Only in close relationship with Jesus can they have access to eternal life with the Father.

We might want to ask ourselves if it is correct that one must believe in Jesus as God to be saved.  But there is a more important question for us as we prepare to enter Holy Week.  How fully do we embrace Jesus as the Son of God?  We want to learn from him, to pray to him, and to follow with his help what he has told us.

 

Monday, April 4, 2022

 Monday of the Fifth Week of Lent

(Daniel 13:1-9.15-17.19-30.33-62; John 8:12-20)

Late last year a man was released from prison after forty-three years of incarceration.  He was exonerated because of a lack of evidence linking him to the crime he allegedly committed.  It seems that he was judged by appearances as Susanna in today’s first reading.

Susanna did not have adulterous relations.  She only appeared to do so.  She was about to be found guilty of the false accusation when the wise Daniel intervened.  He was able to sort out truth from falsehood, the innocent from the guilty.  In the gospel Jesus claims to bring such a discerning light into the world.  He does not judge, but by him people judge themselves.  If they stand with him, they are innocent.  If they oppose him, they prove themselves guilty.  Standing with him, of course, means doing his will, loving God and neighbor.

The time to show ourselves as followers of Jesus is drawing close.  Participating in the paschal liturgy we recommit ourselves to “the light of the world.”  He brings us together in peace.  Despite what we have done in the past, he restores our peace with the Father.

Sunday, April 3, 2022

 

FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT

(Isaiah 43:16-21; Philippians 3:7-14; John 8:1-11)

Once a holy man was traveling on foot through the forest. When he stopped for the night, an assailant came upon him. The ruffian demanded the most valuable thing the holy man was carrying. Without delay the holy man opened his bag, took out a diamond as big as a grapefruit, and presented it to the assailant. The assailant took the diamond and left. In a short time he returned to the holy man. He told him, "Now give me the thing that made you part with this diamond." In the second reading Saint Paul shows us such a valuable thing.

Paul has had the experience of knowing Christ on several occasions. On the road to Damascus Christ appeared to him asking why he was persecuting them. The Acts of the Apostles recalls other meetings and also II Corinthians. We have similar experiences in prayer. We can sense the presence of Jesus urging us to be less inclined to anger and more kind and loving. He assures us that he will be with us come what may.

The story told in today’s gospel reinforces our trust in Jesus. He controls the situation with all the skill of a surgeon in the operating room. He first outwits the Pharisees who uses the adulteress to trap him. Their strategy is if Jesus says that the woman should be stoned, he would be violating Roman law. But if he says that she does not deserve death, he would be ignoring Jewish law. Jesus outsmarts them with the demand that the sinless person cast the first stone.

His treatment of the woman seems even more praiseworthy. Only the two remain, as Saint Augustine says, "misery and mercy". Jesus does not condemn the woman; neither does he scold her. He just corrects her. He tells her to go and sin no more. She will be so grateful to Jesus that she cannot ignore his mandate. He treats us the same way.

Not only does Jesus forgive us; he also helps us to sin no more. He teaches us how to live with our hearts set on the good of our neighbor, not on desire for his or her belongings. In addition to teaching, he shares with us the Holy Spirit that strengthens us spiritually. By receiving Holy Communion, we realize that we are not alone in the struggle. Rather we are part of a great family that includes the angels, the saints, even Christ as well as the other communicants.

Now we should better understand the first reading. Through the prophet God says that he is going to do something new. It will be as refreshing as a river in the desert. The new, the refreshing thing is Jesus Christ. He has not come to judge us but to justify us. He does not make excuses for our faults but corrects them. We will live as upright as oak trees giving nuts to the squirrels and shelter to the birds.

The discovery of a "new" star was recently reported. In addition to not being really "new," this star attracted attention because it does not conform to astronomers' theories. It is so with Jesus. He lived two thousand years ago, but to many, even us, he is new. He does not conform to the old models of judging and scolding. He simply corrects us and justifies us. We will see this process take place in the liturgies of the next two weeks.

Friday, April 1, 2022

 

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.