Friday, March 8, 2022

 

Friday of the Fifth Week in Lent

 (Jeremiah 20:10-13; John 10:31-42)

 Both Jeremiah and Jesus in today’s readings find themselves in litigation.  Jewish authorities want to silence Jeremiah for denouncing idolatry.  Rather than trust in God, they seek favors from idols.  Jeremiah, of course, will have none of their faithlessness. Jesus is being drilled as if he were a defendant facing prosecutors.  The Jews want to prove that he is an imposter claiming to be God.

Jesus deftly cites Scripture to show how he can be considered a son of God.  More than that, he points to the evidence of his powerful works.  They manifest a divine relationship.  He also calls a notable witness.  John the Baptist publicly testified on his behalf.  The Jews are not convinced, yet they cannot arrest Jesus.  His time has still not come. 

We may suffer, like Jeremiah and Jesus, for saying what is true.  Having the right intentions and doing virtuous works does not free us from accusation.  Like Jeremiah and Jesus again, we should make every effort to persevere.  We can turn to God in prayer for the grace to do so.  We might also pray for those who persecute us.  We want them to accept the truth and to live it. 

Thursday, April 7, 2022

 Thursday of the Fifth Week in Lent

 (Genesis 17:3-9; John 8:51-59)

 Today’s gospel is part of a longer passage that used to be read on “Passion Sunday.” This was the Sunday before Palm Sunday before the Vatican II renewal. The gospel passage became the source of the custom of covering sacred images during the last two weeks of Lent.  The statement that Jesus hid from the Jews was taken as a cue to veil all statutes.  Today covering images is optional.  In any case, it is external to the meaning of the passage which is very significant in itself.

 In the dialogue with the Jews, Jesus asserts that he existed before Abraham.  He also says that he has intimate knowledge of the Father.  From these statements the Church has reasoned that He is God like the Father in all things except their mutual relationship.  This conclusion is given added testimony when Jesus says later in the gospel, “’I and the Father are one.’”  Christian theologians have argued that the identity of Jesus as God is crucial for the atonement of sin.  If he were not God, then his sacrifice could not have made up for the sins of humanity. Only the sacrifice of a human of infinite greatness – a God-man – could restore the justice that is taken away through sin.

 Atonement may sound remote even unimportant as we consider Jesus’ cruel death.  But we have to ask why that death was more consequential than any other in history.  Certainly other good people have sacrificed themselves for the good of others.  Certainly, again, other innocent people have undergone similarly brutal deaths as Jesus.  But because Jesus’ death made up, or atoned for, all the sins of the world, we take a week every to contemplate its meaning.  

 

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.