What Are We Going To Do?

March 31, 2007

Saturday of the Fifth Week of Lent

I will make with them a covenant of peace;
it shall be an everlasting covenant with them,
and I will multiply them, and put my sanctuary among them forever.
My dwelling shall be with them;
I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Ezekiel 37:26-27

“What are we going to do? This man is performing many signs. If we leave him alone, all will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our land and our nation.” John 11: 47-48

Piety

God, you have known us since before we were born. You know how we will respond to your call. Help us hear your words and answer you in faith, in hope and in active love. Use each member of our movement to give strength to the others – both our experienced members and our newest Cursillistas who will emerge on Sunday from the latest Men’s Weekend. Give us your gifts to pursue in joy a life of piety, study and action. Amen.

Study

http://www.usccb.org/nab/033107.shtml

Humans once again try to outwit God…and lose.

If they would have just left Jesus alone, all will believe in Him. So instead, they crucify him on the most publicized wrongful death penalty case in history. And what is the result…the exact result they feared had they done nothing.

Without the crucifixion, there can be no Resurrection. The Resurrection is Jesus. The Resurrection is overcoming sin and death. The Resurrection is what leads people to believe. Had the Jews left Jesus alone, they might have been able to control and contain the spread of belief in the Christ. Instead, the plot that will unfold for us over the coming days of Holy Week will backfire, launching a new faith, a new baptism, new life.

The reading from the Hebrew Bible foretells the timeless “everlasting” relationship that God will have with His people. No plot by a small gang of men can destroy this heavenly covenant.

So, what are we going to do? Try to continue to foil God’s plans…or stop swimming against the tide of life and do what Jesus commands.

Action

In John 11, Jesus delivers four commands in this chapter.

1) “Let us go to him.” The faith that Jesus teaches is a faith that reaches out to others. Our faith is one in which we reach out to people in need and meet them in their time of doubt. Despite the fact that the Jews were trying to arrest and stone Jesus, he tells the disciples to get out of the safety of their comfort zone and go to the side of people who need help – Mary and Martha who are in mourning and Lazarus who has died.

What is interesting further is that rather than running away as the disciples do during the Triduum, they decided to go with Jesus to Bethany. They go with Jesus fully expecting that they think they, too, will die with him. Quite a contrast from the way the disciples scattered and denied Jesus when he was eventually arrested a few days later.

2) “Take away the stone.” Many things get in the way of us acting out our beliefs. Jesus is asking us here to reject everything that gets in the way of a solid productive relationship. Jesus wants us to take away the stones that block our path from following Jesus.

3) “Lazarus, come out.” All of us need to imitate the disciples who left the comfort of their homes and jobs to take up a new life with Jesus. Lazarus does the same, leaving his tomb to take up a new life in Jesus. Jesus also is calling us to come out to join him.

4) “Untie him and let him go.” We are tied to many people, places and objects in life. Our jobs. Our homes. Our cars. Our hobbies. Our families. Many times, these past times get in the way of a full spiritual life. We get tied up to the stereo. We get tied up in our private little worlds. Jesus calls for us to cut those ties so we can be let go to pursue his greater good.

Upon hearing these commands, the question for you and I is the same as the one the Jews asked. It is NOT that too popular phrase: “WWJD?” We know what Jesus will do. Instead, what are we going to do? Will you listen to these commands and follow them or reject them and the person who gave the commands to us?