Monday, March 18, 2024

 Monday of the Fifth Week of Lent

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

Pontius Pilate betrayed his conscience in condemning Jesus to death.  The gospels are quite clear that he knew Jesus was innocent.  But to avoid trouble, he chose expediency over righteousness.  In today’s readings two men serving as judges act quite differently.

Daniel ingeniously ferrets out the truth from two lechers who accuse a woman of attempted adultery.  He saves Susanna from being executed and has the real criminals upended.  In the gospel Jesus exhibits similar judicial perspicacity.  He cleverly thwarts the plan of the Pharisees to report him to the Jewish authorities for not complying with the Law. 

Society needs just judges to function well.  Even more we need Jesus.  We require his prudence to help us fulfill our daily responsibilities.  Further, we cannot hope for eternal life without the forgiveness and grace he won for us on the cross.

Friday, March 15, 2024

 Friday of the Fourth Week of Lent

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

In today’s gospel the people think that they know where Jesus is from because they know that he grew up in Galilee.  However, more important than his human origin and more indicative of where he is from is his divine origin.  He is from God which the people should be able to guess from his miraculous works.

We may not be capable of miraculous works, but we can perform acts of charity.  They would signal that we have a divine origin and, more important a divine destiny.  In her book Dialogue Catherine of Siena tells us of another way to show our divine origin and destiny.  She writes that patience and charity go hand-in-hand.  When we suffer setbacks with patience, we likewise do good for our neighbors.  In right order then our good deeds reveal that we are from God and will return to Him.

Thursday, March 14, 2024

Thursday of the Fourth Week of Lent

(Exodus 32:4-14; John 5:31-47)

The gospel of John was probably completed at the end of the first century or the beginning of the second.  It was a time of Christian persecution at the hands of Jewish reformers.  The writer of the gospel promoted Christian perseverance because some former Jewish members were returning to the faith of their ancestors.  He also hoped to boost Christian morale and to attract Jews living outside Palestine to join Christian ranks.

To accomplish these objectives in today’s passage, the author pictures Jesus debating with “the Jews.” He gives evidence of a trifold testimony to Jesus.  First, he says that John, the baptizer testified to Jesus in the desert.  Then he attests that Jesus’ work, that is, his miracles, testify to his being sent from God.  He also points out that that the Scriptures themselves, both Moses and the prophets, foretell his coming.

We too live in a time of Christian persecution.  In places like China and Iran the persecution is violent.  In other places the Church is being unfairly judged and disdained.  We can offer testimony to Jesus by our common prayer and our acts of mercy done in emulation of him.

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

 Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent

(Isaiah 49:8-15; John 5:17-30)

The priest in charge was not sure what to do.  He had received a complaint about one of the people he worked with.  He knew the fellow worker as well-intentioned and hardworking.  She was also somewhat rigid about rules which made her vulnerable to criticisms.  Some people picture God in this way – rigid and demanding.  They might forsake religion because of such a false image. In the readings today God sets the record straight.

Through the prophet Isaiah God proclaims that he has more concern for his people than a mother for her child.  He would go to the extent of leveling mountains to see them home safely.  In the gospel Jesus assures that Isaiah’s prophecy is for real.  He does only what the Father does.  He will see his followers home to eternal life.

We best believe that God would never do anything to harm us.  Perhaps He allows hardship to come our way.  However, this will be to correct our faults.  He wants us with Him in Paradise.

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent

(Ezekiel47:1-9.12; John 5:1-3.5-16)

Stories of the first computers may can help one understand what the readings today are proposing.  In the 1950s and 1960s computers about the size of a large cabinet performed complex mathematical operations quickly.  Numbers entered the systems through punch cards about four by nine inches.  People marveled then about the effectiveness of these computers, but they were like counting beads compared to what a laptop can do today.

Today’s first reading illustrates the graciousness of God’s Temple.  Water is pictured flowing from its sides bringing healing and health.  The paralytic in the gospel wants to be healed by soaking himself in its pool of water.  But he always arrives too late to take advantage of the stirred-up waters.  Then Jesus cures the paralysis without the man’s entering the water.  Jesus is shown as a more powerful source of life than the Temple and its waters.  In this respect he is like the contemporary computer.

Faith in Jesus produces blessing upon blessing.  We may not see miraculous cures, but we can attest in our own lives benefits from prayer.  As much as ever, we want to stay close to Jesus in the trying times of life today.