Mark 10:45

Tag: Old Testament

  • Journeying Home

    Journeying Home

    Wednesday in the Fourth Week of Lent

    Isaiah 49:8-15; John 5:17-30

    Every year around Thanksgiving, I used to travel down to the Dallas area to visit family. On the way, certain landmarks reminded me where I was: first, the Arch in St. Louis; next, the cotton fields of Arkansas; finally, the great plains of Texas.

    Lent has landmarks, too. First, Ash Wednesday; then, the 4th Sunday of Lent (“Laetare,” meaning “Rejoice,” Sunday); finally, Palm Sunday. While each features a special liturgical color, they also feature themes that will persist in the readings.

    In the first three weeks of Lent, the Old Testament readings reminded us of our human frailty and need to repent. But note the difference this week! First, Isaiah bid us rejoice at what God is making new; then, Ezekiel spoke of the life-giving water flowing from the right side of the Temple. Today, again through Isaiah, God speaks gently of a time of favor, refreshment, and restoration. The focus isn’t so much on what has gone wrong, but on how God is reaching out to renew and redeem His people. There is still suffering and darkness, but there is also light and hope.

    We see a change in the gospel readings, too. From Ash Wednesday until this week, Christ has challenged us to look at our lives, confront the reality of sin, and re-commit to following God’s will more closely. But this week, the call is more forward-looking and hopeful. On Monday, we listened as he raised a child to life; yesterday, he healed a crippled man at the pool of Bethesda. Today, he speaks of healing and life, telling us that he has the authority to heal, and while he holds the keys to judgment, he also holds the keys to eternal life.

    So, what are we to do with this new direction the Church has given us for the next several days? A couple of things. First, we should do what Laetare Sunday urged us to do – rejoice! We have good reason! No matter what struggles or feelings of abandonment we go through, God has assured us that we aren’t alone; He is always working for our good, even when we do not see it. Second, since Jesus has the authority to give life and to stand in judgment of us, we should continue asking ourselves if and how we are deepening our commitment to Him. Lent is a journey, after all. Have we moved from complacency to more active discipleship? Finally, just as Jesus said He could do nothing apart from the Father, so should we be examining our daily lives for unity with God’s will. Are the choices we make every day in line with our faith? Do we seek to serve rather than be served? Do we bear witness to Christ’s life-giving power in a world that so desperately needs His light?

    Just like the landmarks of our travels, each of the landmarks of Lent is there to remind us not only of where we’ve been, but also where we’re going. As an artist’s work gains richness and depth with each successive layer, so our experience of Lent deepens as we move from reflection to hopeful anticipation. The readings this week and next are an open invitation to re-examine our hearts, to seek God’s healing in times of darkness, to celebrate His infinite mercy, and to commit ourselves anew to living in unity with His will. Above all, let us rejoice in the joyful assurance that, no matter what challenges we face, God is with us, with the bright promise of hope and redemption. And, as we move closer to the events of Holy Week, let us open our hearts to His transformative love, confident that the road ahead is one of renewal and the promise of eternal life with Christ, our journey’s destination.

    —

  • I Will Make You Great: Friday of the 14th Week in Ordinary Time

    Genesis 46:1-7, 28-30

    An important part of getting to know someone is finding out about their background – their childhood, family, whatever details they’d like to share. It gives us a fuller, richer picture of the person, puts what they say and do in context, and helps us come to a better understanding and appreciation of them.

    Of course, we’re much more limited when it comes to getting to know people in the bible, but that doesn’t mean there is nothing to learn. Sometimes, important details lie hidden between the lines, and knowing them helps us not only to learn more about that person but also more about us and God. This is true for one of the most important, indeed foundational, biblical characters we have heard about this week – Jacob, the son of Isaac and grandson of Abraham.

    As we study the chapters of Genesis that tell us about his life, one thing is clear: Jacob came from a dysfunctional family. It began from the twin brothers’ birth. The name Jacob means “to supplant” or “replace,” and that is what he did, first duping Esau out of his inheritance, then tricking his father into giving him the blessing intended for his slightly older brother. But their parents, Isaac and Rebecca, are the real problem; they play favorites, Rebecca going so far as to help her favorite (Jacob) steal from his brother and get away, while Isaac sat idly by as his favorite (Esau) plotted murder against Jacob. Not what anyone would call a healthy family dynamic.

    Sadly the problem followed Jacob into adulthood, for he too played favorites. We heard this week how his favoritism of Joseph led to such envy in Jacob’s other sons that like their uncle Esau they too plotted to kill their brother – and nearly succeeded.

    Yet we also saw that things don’t always work out the way we think they will. Where in Jacob’s family revenge would be expected, by the grace of God Joseph took a different tack; just yesterday we heard him say to his brothers, It was really for the sake of saving lives that God sent me here ahead of you (Genesis 45:5).

    And therein lies the lesson: With God’s help, the unchangeable can change. Like Jacob, we are born with problems, born into problems, problems plague us all our lives. They may be dysfunctional relationships, addictions, abuse, the list is endless. Whatever they are we feel powerless to change them, and on our own we probably are. But the story of Jacob teaches us that we are not alone, that no matter what the problems are God has ways of dealing with them that we do not, and that as St. Paul once said, all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).

    Although Jacob may have taken too much pride in himself and his own schemes over the years, he never forgot God’s purpose and to humble himself before it. In today’s reading we find him doing exactly that at Beersheba. He’s been there before; recall on Monday Scripture told of him fleeing from Esau as a frightened young man. Then, God spoke to him in a dream and, although the words are slightly different, the main points are exactly the same today: I am God… do not be afraid… I will make you great… I will be with you… I will bring you home. Through all that had happened to him from that first moment on – the joys, the sorrows, the love, the loss, the bliss, and the agony – Jacob was never alone. God was right there with him, doing what he said he would do.

    So let us resolve to respond as Jacob did. Scripture tells us that he took everything he owned and everyone in his family with him to Egypt (Genesis 46:6-7). That is, he was totally committed to whatever God wanted him to do. This takes great faith but that is ours for the asking. Jacob asked for it at Beersheba; we have the present moment, here in His presence. And let us remember too that God is never outdone in generosity. For his act of faith, Jacob was rewarded not only with the joy of holding his long-lost son in his arms once again but also, through the great prosperity and growth that Israel, the nation named after him, would come to enjoy, he could rest secure in the knowledge that God’s plan is far above any of human schemes and His merciful love infinitely bigger than any of our problems.

    The best news of all is that to those who commit themselves to Him as Jacob did hear the same words that Jacob heard. Keep them with you today and everyday. Here they are again: I am God… do not be afraid… I will make you great… I will be with you… I will bring you home.