March 22, 2010
Monday of the Fifth Week of Lent
But Susanna cried aloud: "O eternal God, you know what is hidden and are aware of all things before they come to be: you know that they have testified falsely against me. Here I am about to die, though I have done none of the things with which these wicked men have charged me." Daniel 13:42-43
Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." So the Pharisees said to him, "You testify on your own behalf, so your testimony cannot be verified." Jesus answered and said to them, "Even if I do testify on my own behalf, my testimony can be verified, because. But you do not know where I come from or where I am going. You judge by appearances, but I do not judge anyone. John 8:12-15
Piety
The LORD is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack. In green pastures you let me graze; to safe waters you lead me; you restore my strength. You guide me along the right path for the sake of your name. Even when I walk through a dark valley, I fear no harm for you are at my side; your rod and staff give me courage. You set a table before me as my enemies watch; You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Only goodness and love will pursue me all the days of my life; I will dwell in the house of the LORD for years to come. Psalm 23
Study
Through the Holy Spirit, Jesus comes to us every where just like the wind. Whether we are in a dark hour before death, on the verge of being stoned to death like the woman in Sunday’s gospel, or any dark valley that we cross, Jesus is there. Maybe that is why Psalm 23 has been so often part of our Lenten daily readings.
The Lord comes to us where ever we may be. He does not need a GPS device or an application for his smart phone.
The hint for this truth is provided early in John’s Gospel and reinforced today. In John 3:8 we learned: “The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” However, Jesus knows where He came from – alluding to the Father – and where He is going – alluding to the passion and crucifixion.
Also, in another characteristic that sets Jesus apart from us is his trait not to judge. “I do not judge anyone.” Again, we learned the root of this in John 3:17-21 when he said:
“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed. But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.
Action
We may not all know where we are headed; however, we all know something about where we came from. In a country like ours, practically all of our families were immigrants at one time or another. That is why we all need to become familiar with the implications of Catholic Social Teaching and migration. The USCCB has a fact sheet which summarizes the positions (http://www.justiceforimmigrants.org/documents/immigration-and-catholic-social-teaching.pdf)
If you picked up postcards in your parish this weekend from the Justice for Immigrants campaign, remember to fill them out and bring them back next Sunday so they can be mailed as a statement of solidarity between Catholic parishes and immigrants.
(http://www.justiceforimmigrants.org/documents/Postcard-Campaign.pdf)
