Wednesday of the Fourth Week in Lent
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The Lord says “…to the prisoners: Come out! To those in darkness: Show yourselves! Along the ways they shall find pasture, on every bare height shall their pastures be. They shall not hunger or thirst, nor shall the scorching wind or the sun strike them; For he who pities them leads them and guides them beside the springs of water. I will cut a road through all my mountains, and make my highways level.” (Isaiah 49:9-11)
“Amen, amen, I say to you, the hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.” (John 5:25)
Piety
Lord, sometimes the mountains can overwhelm me. Please help me to see the road you have cut for me...and to travel it in faith and peace.
Study
I am in a spiritual slump, it seems, a dear friend wrote in an e-mail last week as we attempted to arrange a too-many-times-delayed lunch. But all shall be well.
My e-mails to her generally speak of busyness and peaks and valleys: “I’m editing a manuscript that really needs help! I’m so excited about the proposal I’m writing with my best friend! My availability is limited because of volunteer projects at church and elsewhere!” Yes, lots of exclamation points.
I am in a spiritual slump, it seems, wrote my dear friend. But all shall be well. (Note the lack of exclamation points. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever had an e-mail from her that used one.)
My friend sees the mountains. Her family faces serious health challenges, and her kids and their activities keep her and her husband hopping. But she also sees the Lord as her road through those mountains…and that faith keeps her moving forward, keeps her level.
The Word was Jesus’ road through his mountain of life on earth. In today’s Gospel, he tells the Jews that “the Son cannot do anything on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing.” Those who hear his word and believe in God, Jesus promises, will have “eternal life and will not come to condemnation.” The time has come, he says, “when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.”
The voice of the Son of God comes to us in different forms: through Scripture and other readings, through homilies, and, perhaps, through e-mails from friends who can acknowledge a spiritual slump and remain confident that “all shall be well.” I’ll hope to show I’m listening by working on my faith that the road will be made level by someone other than me—and by picking up the tab for lunch.
Action
Where are your mountains? Pride? Greed? Lust? Anger? Gluttony? Envy? Sloth? Ask a trusted friend or your group reunion for prayers and thoughts about cutting a road through one of them this week.
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