To Save the World May 2

By Diane Bayne


May God have pity on us and bless us; may he let his face shine upon us. So may your way be known upon earth; among all nations, your salvation. Psalm 67: 2-3

Jesus cried out and said, "Whoever believes in me believes not only in me but also in the one who sent me, and whoever sees me sees the one who sent me. I came into the world as light so that everyone who believes in me might not remain in darkness. And if anyone hears my words and does not observe them, I do not condemn him, for I did not come to condemn the world but to save the world. Whoever rejects me and does not accept my words has something to judge him: the word that I spoke. It will condemn him on the last day, because I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. So what I say, I say as the Father told me." John 12:44-50


Piety

Neither the sorrowful mysteries of the rosary nor the Stations of the Cross acknowledge the enormous hurt Jesus must have suffered at the refusal of so many of his own people to believe in him. This is a great oversight. In King Lear, Shakespeare wrote, “Sharper than a serpent's tooth is an ungrateful child.” As the Son, coeternal with the Father, the Jews were not only Jesus' brothers and sisters – they were his children. How bitter it must have been for Jesus, loving these who were his own, to plead for their acceptance and experience instead their rejection and contempt. In John 10 (from which the Gospel of last Sunday and yesterday's Gospel were both taken), we see Jesus' tender approach, as He describes himself as the Good Shepherd, ready to lay down his life for his sheep--a life that he willingly lays down and that he can just as willingly take up again (John 10: 1-18). The response of the Jews is to proclaim him a madman. Not deterred, Jesus mentions that the works he has done in his Father's name give witness in his favor: the response of his audience is to attempt to stone him. And then Jesus says, "Many good deeds have I shown you from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?"

Study

http://www.usccb.org/nab/050207.shtml

Long before he took up his cross, Jesus' heart was broken. Read today's gospel slowly (John 12:44-50). Picture our Savior's face as he pleads with his children, his people, for their acceptance. How does he look? Sound?

Action

Think of something you can do today to console the broken heart of our Savior,
One suggestion: Praise God by reverently praying today's psalm.