March 23, 2010
Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent
By Beth DeCristofaro
But with their patience worn out by the journey, the people complained against God and Moses, … Moses accordingly made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole, and whenever anyone who had been bitten by a serpent looked at the bronze serpent, he lived. (Numbers 21:5,9)
He said to (the Pharisees), “You belong to what is below, I belong to what is above. You belong to this world, but I do not belong to this world. That is why I told you that you will die in your sins. For if you do not believe that I AM, you will die in your sins.” So Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I AM,and that I do nothing on my own, but I say only what the Father taught me. (John 8, 23-24, 28)
Piety
Lord, teach me what it is to be on mission. Give me insight how best to do your will in my little world and on your Earth. To speak your Word. To feed your lambs. And dear God, help me to see what is in my nature that lures me away, takes me down, draws me back to Me, far from our
Study
So where am I on this Lenten journey? Worn out at times yet keeping my eyes on the Son, lifted up, at others. This year I decided on two sacrifices – to give up something I love and to be kinder, more open to someone significant in my life. And I have for many years cooked at least one meal from the CRS rice bowl recipes in solidarity with those for whom fasting is a daily way of life. How is it going?
Well, I can relate to the moaning Israelites. There have been many days that I have sure missed my glass of wine in the evening. On days that have been very tough at work or when things just haven’t gone well, a glass of delicious, relaxing wine would have worked wonders. And there are the good days when a glass would have been a celebration. In the giving up I am called back, often, to the giving up which a Christian life requires of us. I have taken the opportunity (when I don’t reflexively whine…) to say a prayer, to reorient myself to Jesus rather than my own comfort and to appreciate that I have given up a luxury to which many in this world do not – and will never have – access.
Being kinder, gentler to someone is harder. This really reminds me that my life is not just about me. That God is everyday asking me to speak the Word and feed God’s lambs. That takes effort. That takes humility. That takes trust that God knows what is best for me and my significant friend. That takes turning the journey over to God because, God knows, I’d rather do it my way. And how about that? It’s difficult but there is fruit in that desert. There is grace in the moments when I suddenly realize that I have turned back to me rather than to God and I can make a choice for God. The journey continues.
Let’s just say about the rice bowl recipes that I suspect a donation to CRS will be the end of that resolution. And God still loves me in spite of the incompleteness of my resolve.
These readings today, with the images of the seraph raised on high and the promise of Christ raised on high, are so compelling. Moses saved his people through the intercession of God. God saved me, the world, you, through the intercession of his Son. How can I not say “yes” to the mission to follow God?
Action
A later king, Hezikiah, had the bronze seraph made by Moses melted down and destroyed because the people had begun to worship it rather than God. Look at what you have begun to worship – patterns of behavior, attitudes about people or things, lifestyle choices, rigid rituals, total self-sufficiency or unhealthy relationships. How can you turn your eyes back to God rather than this thing of worship? There is still time to reorient the journey. Call on God’s grace and your own courage.
Please welcome our new babe chicks from the Women’s 130th Cursillo into your parish families! DeColores!
