March 28, 2017
Tuesday, Lent Week Four
“The mighty Lord is with us;
the God of Jacob
is our refuge.”
The Responsorial (Psalm 46) tells us to trust.
Ezekiel
47: 1-12 is about water, a symbol of the life God gives in Baptism. All
who have this life within them should be sources of life for others: “Wherever
the river flows, every living creature that can multiply shall live.”
Picture it: a clean, flowing river. On both banks, green plants,
flowers, crops and trees. This is the way the world should look, wherever
Christians are. At least to those who have eyes to see the Life he gives. “I
appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last.”
Jesus used this same image with the woman of Samaria: “If you knew
the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you
would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” Later he said:
“Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.” Those who
receive life are to give life.
John continues: “Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to
receive.” Jesus had said, “It is the spirit that gives life... The words that I
have spoken to you are spirit and life.”[1]
The “daily way” to receive and increase God’s life within us — and
transmit it to others — is to read God’s words,
praying for enlightenment by his Holy Spirit. To do this regularly is to be a disciple. In every Mass the Liturgy of the Word reminds and calls us
to this. What this reading does is give us motivation: by opening ourselves to
the “water of life” by reflecting on God’s words, we will become fountains of
life for others. Is that worth investing time in?
John
5: 1-16 ends with sobering statement: “It was because Jesus did things
such things on the Sabbath that they began to persecute him.” We want to
scream: “What things? Healing a sick man? Anyone who would persecute a person
for that is the one who is sick!”
But it happens every day. Who within the Church gets persecuted
the most by others in the Church, laity as well as officials? Isn’t it the
“prophets” — those who upset complacency by acting or speaking in a way that
calls our assumptions into question?
What did you think of yesterday’s reflection? “It was bad,
dangerous! It said it’s okay to miss Mass on Sunday!”
Is that all you saw? Or did you see God as a wise, loving Father
who will dispense with a rule at times to help someone love the Mass and him
more? Any priest can dispense from Mass for a good reason. Do we need an
authority to make that judgment for us? Or can we look at God’s heart and make
it for ourselves? The answer to that question is the “litmus test” of
Phariseeism.
If the comfortable are afflicted by what comforts the afflicted,
they have a problem. It is probably fear of human freedom exercised in
decisions.
Initiative:
Remember: “The mighty Lord
is with us.” Trust
him to lead.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please leave your comments!