Wednesday of the Fifth Week in Lent
By Melanie Rigney
After King Nebuchadnezzar had Shadrach, Meshash, and Abednego thrown into a white-hot furnace, he “...asked his nobles, ‘Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?’ ‘Assuredly, O king,’ they answered. ‘But,’ he replied, ‘I see four men unfettered and unhurt, walking in the fire, and the fourth looks like a son of God.’” (Daniel 3:91-92)
“Everyone who commits a sin is a slave of sin. A slave does not remain in a household forever, but a son always remains. So if the Son frees you, then you will truly be free.” (John 8:34-36)
Piety
Lord, thank you for setting me free. Give me the confidence to love as you do.
Study
We’re closing in on that most solemn and joyous time of the year... Palm Sunday, reconciliation services, Stations of the Cross, Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, Easter Vigil, Easter Sunday…and all those people. You know the ones... they call them H2O Catholics, “holidays, two only.” They take up space in your pews and your parking lot. They don’t know when to sit or stand, much less kneel. They drop maybe five dollars in the collection basket. They follow along in the book rather than listening to the word of the Lord. Then, finally, a week or two after Easter, they stop coming to church, and things get back to normal.
It’s easy to feel superior to those H20 Catholics when you’re there in the sanctuary with Jesus every day or every week, when you’re contributing as much time, talent, and treasure as you possibly can. But you may be part of the reason “those people” stay away.
People drift or break from the Church for any number of reasons. University of Notre Dame professor Lawrence S. Cunningham outlines some of them in a 2003 Notre Dame magazine article. Amid all the rules and regulations, he says, the inactive or even active Catholics sometimes misunderstand our faith’s most basic truth: There is freedom in Christ.
Cunningham says:
The Catholic tradition carries within it a message of freedom succinctly expressed in a single line in the Gospel: ‘If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth and the truth will make you free’ (John 8:31-32).
What is that freedom? It is freedom from whatever it is that makes us unhappy, insecure, doubting, addicted, self-loathing. It is freedom from all those things that make us yearn to be something else. It is the freedom that leads to the greatest freedom—the freedom from want. And ultimately it is the freedom to love.
There’s a reason H20 Catholics show up at this time of year. Call it fear of burning in hell if they don’t, call it habit, call it an unquenchable desire to have a relationship with Christ. Call it whatever you want. But something unexplainable in their souls pushes them to come to Mass at least twice a year. When we see them, let us resolve to show them the love Christ does and not the resentment we may feel. Let us welcome back the prodigal sons and daughters with open arms in the coming days.
Action
At some point between today and Easter, spend a little time before Mass begins observing those around you. Find the person who looks the most out of place. Don’t wait for the Lord’s Prayer to extend your hand and introduce yourself. Ask him or her to have coffee or doughnuts afterward. You may be this person’s first step on a journey of freedom in Christ.
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