Daily Reflection - April 04, 2009

April 4th, 2009
by
Robert P. Heaney

Saturday of the Fifth Week of Lent Ezekiel 37:21-28 Jeremiah 31:10, 11-12abcd, 13 John 11:45-56

On the cusp of Holy Week, today’s readings give us some hint of what the new creation, which we’ll celebrate at the Easter Vigil, actually looks like.

We will be one.

In the readings from Ezekiel and the psalm from Jeremiah, we hear God promising to gather the scattered remnants of Israel, and in the Gospel, John, interpreting the high priest’s comments, sees Jesus gathering “into one the dispersed children of God”. In both readings it is God who acts. Plainly we can’t do it ourselves. Humans divide. It is God who unifies. What we need to hear and understand is that unity is what God wants. Though we can’t do it ourselves, we certainly can impede it, and we desperately need to understand how doing that would be completely contrary to God’s will.

Think of the ways we divide – all variants of “us” and “them”: white and black, immigrant and native-born, gay and straight, rich and poor, Protestant and Catholic, liberal and conservative, clerical and lay. . . the list is endless. These kinds of divisions are ingrained in our psyches – in our biology even. That’s why what Jesus has done is to make something totally new – totally different.

Humans use these divisions for dominance. But there is no dominance in the new creation. There is, instead, only self-giving. Recall Paul: “Neither Jew or Greek, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female”. And Jesus, in his prayer to the Father at the last supper, asks God that: “they may be one, as you Father and I are one – so that the world may believe you sent me…..”

“So that the world may believe. . . ” Division doesn’t manifest God. We, as Church, do not show God’s presence so long as we are divided. In just one week we will celebrate – not just remember, but actually relive – that new creating. It is well to keep this emphasis on unity uppermost in our minds and hearts as we approach that holy day.

Daily Reflection - April 03, 2009

April 3rd, 2009
by
Paul Mahowald, S.J.

Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent Jeremiah 20:10-13 Psalm 18:2-3a, 3bc-4, 5-6, 7 John 10:31-42

Today’s refrain from Psalm 18 gives us the theme of the readings: “In my distress, I called upon the Lord, and he heard my voice.”

Outside our church on Sunday mornings is parked a car with vanity plates that read “YMELORD”, i.e., “Why me, Lord?” This is a question that comes up in all our lives. Jeremiah suffered through rejection of his prophetic mission at the time of the exile. And the gospel relates how Jesus also is rejected by “the Jews” who are trying to stone him for blasphemy.

Jesus is threatened by those who witness his “works.” And Jesus challenges his accusers to clarify over which “good work” are they charging him. Jesus’ time had not yet come so he fled down the mountain to the Jordon. His passion and death would come soon but he wanted to celebrate the Passover first with his disciples. Next Friday is Good Friday in our present day liturgy so all this drama fits together.

We asked the question, “Why me, Lord?” There are many ways to respond. We can join with him in his passion and death as we realize in our lives we also have many moments of crisis when we plead for God’s help. There are times of mourning when a family member dies; there are economic crises when we lose a job or even a home; there are spiritual crises of faith when we find it hard to believe in a good God who cares for us, etc.

Our scriptural texts this past week have dwelt on crises: Monday with Jesus saving the woman caught in adultery; Wednesday with Daniel refusing to worship the golden statue of Nebachadnezzar and then being thrown into the fiery furnace with his three campanions and yesterday’s readings where the Jews protest that Jesus could give them eternal life.

We need to remember the comment made to Thomas in the Upper Room the week after Jesus rose from the dead. Jesus said, “Blessed are they who believe even though they do not see.” This can also be translated to “Blessed are they who have trusted even though they do not understand!”

So “Why me , Lord?” If we truly trust the Lord we can respond “why not, Lord because blessed are we who do not understand even though we are bombarded on all sides with terrible pressures and anxieties.

Daily Reflection - April 02, 2009

April 2nd, 2009
by
Pat Borchers

Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent Genesis 17:3-9 Psalm 105:4-5, 6-7, 8-9 John 8:51-59

As Easter draws closer I become more hopeful. Lent is often a difficult journey for me as I confront my fears and inadequacies, with which all of us as human beings are burdened. The difficult stock taking begins on Ash Wednesday but I can feel the slow ascent of my spirit as we approach the joyous magic of the Resurrection on Easter.

I believe that all of us Christians feel the twist in our stomachs of the suffering of our fellow human beings. I know that I feel it especially acutely this time of year as I wonder whether I am doing my part to help alleviate it. Am I kind to my neighbor? Do I sacrifice enough? Do I avoid Jesus’s warning in the Gospel today to avoid self glorification? I know I don’t rate a perfect score. Some days I don’t even earn a C minus.

But perpetual despair about my failings is no good either. I can’t lock myself in my room and not engage my fellow human beings, even though I know that I will make mistakes. What good am I to God and my neighbor then? What if Abraham had said to God: “Please, pick someone else.”?

As I walk into my office here at Creighton I usually look up at the cross on the steeple at the top of St. John’s church. It gives me courage in the face of my fears and inadequacies. And I know that Easter is coming.

Daily Reflection - April 01, 2009

April 1st, 2009
by
Edward Morse

Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Lent Daniel 3:14-20, 91-92, 95 Daniel 3:52, 53, 54, 55, 56 John 8:31-42

I have always loved the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, which I learned as a youngster. The Statler Brothers used to sing a gospel song about this story, which contained this chorus:

They wouldn't bend
They held onto the will of God so we are told
They wouldn't bow
They would not bow their knees to the idol made of gold
They wouldn't burn
They were protected by the fourth man in the fire
They wouldn't bend, they wouldn't bow, they wouldn't burn.

It still rings in my ears as I read Daniel’s account of the ordeal involving his three friends.

When we focus upon the reaction of Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego, the story is a wondrous example of faith in action. These men had real confidence in God that goes beyond their deliverance from the fiery furnace. When facing the question of whether to demonstrate fealty to an idol in order to save themselves, they were not moved by the apparent consequences of their decision. Instead, they seemed indifferent as to whether God would save them from the furnace. They understood that God was able to save them, but whether God would choose to do so would be His prerogative. They did not decide to follow God because He would save them, but because of the reality of who He was. What a demonstration of faith! As Paul would later observe, “whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.” (Romans 14:8). I wonder what it felt like to enter that furnace untouched, and to be joined in the experience by the “fourth [man who] looks like a son of God.” (v. 92).

When we focus upon Nebuchadnezzar, we see a slightly different message coming out of this account. Nebuchadnezzar asked, “Who is the God who can deliver you out of my hands?” I do not think he expected to learn the answer. He was surprised at the audacity of anyone who would not see him as preeminent. His initial reaction to that challenge was blind rage. Sometimes finding God can be quite a shock, particularly when we discover the foundation for our lives is crumbling and untrustworthy. Sometimes we are like Nebuchadnezzar, who was a bit of a slow learner when it came to the God of Daniel, Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego.

The Gospel for today deals with the problems of other slow learners, who seem unable to shift their focus from the past to the present. As a result, they are unable to recognize the work of God who is in their midst. May God save us from our own blindness as to the works of God, and may He open our eyes to His works that are visible in our present reality. And may each of us recognize and accept God’s answers to our questions about who He is, responding with humility, gratitude, and openness to the future He has planned for us.