March 27, 2017
Monday, Lent Week Four
The Responsorial (Psalm 30) is
an acknowledgement each one of us needs to make. Frequently.
What kind of God comes through in Isaiah
65: 17-21?
Lo, I am about to create a new heavens and
a new earth.... There shall always be rejoicing and happiness in what I create.
For I create Jerusalem [read “the Church”] to be a joy, and its people to be a
delight.
Larry,
a Baptist minister, told at a dinner party how his loving wife was the one who
kept order in the family. She got their daughter Jane off to school, regulated
the TV, and kept the candy down. But Larry didn’t conform: “I just gave Jane
everything she wanted.”
One
morning, when his wife left for a trip, Jane said, “I don’t want to go to
school today.” “Great,” Larry laughed, “Let’s take a holiday!” The other
mothers at table all looked horrified as he told how they just stayed home for
the rest of the week. Watched television. Ate junk food. Had a ball.
Before
his wife’s return Larry suggested to Jane, “You know, there are some things
mommy doesn’t need to hear.”
Isn’t
the Church like a mother to us? Loving, but conscientious. Mothers set the
rules. They keep family life ordered. That is their job. It is necessary. But
it isn’t the whole picture.
Can
you see God the Father acting like this Baptism minister? One Sunday you wake
up, see glorious weather outside, and say to the Father, “I don’t want to go to
Mass today.” Can you imagine God the Father laughing and saying, “Fine! Let’s
take a holiday!” And making sure you
have one of the most enjoyable days of your life?
Do
you see disapproving glances among those who read this? But wouldn’t you guess
Jane did not follow the rebellious “minister’s daughter syndrome” when she
became adult? Wouldn’t you bet she is still going to church?
Please
don’t tell anybody you read this. There are some things everybody doesn’t need
to hear!
How does Jesus come through in John 4:43-54? According to the “rules” the official didn’t qualify
for a miracle. Jesus’ standard remark to those he cured was: “Your faith has
made you well.... According to your faith let it be done to you.” Jesus
reproached the official for lacking it: “Unless you people see signs and
wonders, you do not believe.”
But the official saw more in Jesus than one who lived by rules,
even his own! He appealed directly to Christ’s heart, the law of all laws, love
that gives life: “Sir, come down before my child dies.” Jesus said, “Return
home. Your son will live.” Then he believed. In Christ’s love.
The man believes “the word spoken to him.”
...He had [not] acquired perfect faith, but it was a beginning..... The cure
appears to be not so much the cause of the man’s faith [as] its consequence;
signs and faith in the word go together. [1]
Love
won his faith. Hearing God’s word with faith in his love is discipleship.
Initiative:
Obey the rules, but... interpret them according to the Father’s
heart.
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