She Trusted in the Lord Wholeheartedly April 3

Pray

Jesus, we often say that we trust in you. Too often we act like our trust lies elsewhere. We trust the banks with our money. We trust television with our time. We trust the schools with our children. We trust the government with our tax money.

Jesus, you seek nothing less than the trust of Susanna – wholehearted and willing to give up even our lives in pursuit of you. Give us the faith to enter into that trusting relationship with our brother.

Help us to always speak up for what is right and just in our material world. Help us to turn from the flesh and turn toward life in the Spirit. Amen.

Study

http://www.usccb.org/nab/040306.shtml

"Through tears she looked up to heaven,for she trusted in the Lord wholeheartedly."

In God We Trust. A phrase on all the coins of our realm. A phrase that is epitomized in the faith of Susanna in today's reading from teh Hebrew Bible. Despite the choices she was forced to make, she knew what she had to do. “If I yield, it will be my death;if I refuse, I cannot escape your power. Yet it is better for me to fall into your power without guilt than to sin before the Lord.” However, the crowd encountered Daniel first. “God stirred up the holy spirit of a young boy named Daniel, and he cried aloud: “I will have no part in the death of this woman.”

Like Nicodemus in the reading on Saturday, Daniel spoke up for what is right and just.

A parallel story appears in John 8 of a woman caught in adultery. This time, however, although the crowd was ready to kill her, like they were ready to kill Susanna, they encountered Jesus first. With the crowd bent on destruction, Jesus was put to a difficult test like Susanna. The woman was repaid for her trust with a powerful and clever defense when Jesus spoke up for what is right and just.

Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger.But when they continued asking him,he straightened up and said to them,“Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”

No frantic action on teh part of the Messiah. After doodling in the sand, Jesus stands up and changes everything. Again. Most importantly, Jesus changes the ending…in the Good News today, no one dies. The only “casualty” is that the sins of the accused are wiped clean with reconciliation. The tables are turned on the accusers but no one is executed.

In less than a week, Jesus will triumphantly enter Jerusalem and he will be in dire need of a defender worthy of Daniel. But the wisdom of God will run its course and the tables will be turned on civilization – the innocent will die to redeem the innocent and the guilty. God, through Daniel, saved the innocent Susanna. God, through Jesus also saved the guilty -- the woman caught in adultery. But in the end, the death of the innocent One is needed so the world can be saved.

Action

Jesus was ready to stand up for you. Are you ready to stand up for Jesus? Are you willing to stand up for the poor and fight for just immigration laws in the U.S.?

Another article in “The Washington Post” this weekend further detailed the background of the issues that Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahoney has with the current proposals winding their way through Congress. See the article here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-yn/content/article/2006/04/01/AR2006040101206_pf.html

Will you make the call to your Senators? You can send them an e-mail on this issue here.
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm?State=VA

Are there other issues where you need to put your trust in God? Are there other issues where you need to defend the people of God in the public square?