“If we leave Him alone, all will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our land and our nation.”
John 11:48
Saturday of the Fifth Week of Lent – John 11:48
“If we leave Him alone, all will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our land and our nation.”
Additional Reading(s) today: Ezek 37:21-28; John 11:45-56
Today’s Lenten Reflection
And so it begins. Today’s Gospel message pushes us toward the horror that will unfold before our eyes during Holy Week. Minds are made up, plans set in motion, and fear is at the heart of it all. Fear of the unknown, fear of change, fear of differences — a trifecta that will put the Savior of the world on a Cross and change the course of history forever. When we think of Jesus at this point in His ministry, we imagine Him among people pushed to the margins: lepers, tax collectors, prostitutes, widows, the left behind. His was not a ministry of power, privilege and luxury; rather, one of humility, meekness, love and empathy. A ministry built upon a ragtag group of fishermen of fish turned fishermen of men — a mission of saving souls and a message of salvation. Jesus came to save everyone. He welcomed everyone. And in so doing He welcomed suspicion as well. “Who is He to make us feel as if we are not as holy and good as we should be?” Those are the feelings that began to take root and rise up among the Pharisees as they set about determining Jesus’ fate. They did not consider the warning of “the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand” or that of saving souls, only that of saving their own skin. We can all be guilty of the same. Next time you feel that temptation rising, pause and ask yourself whose skin or soul you’re saving, or not.
Lenten Meditation
In recent years, there has been a resurgence of the fascination with memento mori, the fact that death is always before us. For some, it means keeping a skull on their desk as a visible reminder of what we often do not want to face. For others, the sign of the Cross. “The notion of nothingness has propelled humanity in ways both divine and horrifyingly destructive. On the one hand, Van Gogh’s Starry Night and the other, the genocide of six million Jews between 1941 and 1945,” writes Patrick Shen in Notes on Silence. “Nothingness conjures up our deepest yearnings and darkest fears.” What do you yearn for? What do you fear? Can you sit in the nothingness and accept it all? Can you, on the other hand, accept Jesus’ invitation and promise of eternal life?
Lenten Prayer
“Lord, we think about birth and death today, two sides of the same coin. We celebrate one and fear the other. We come before You to pray for the grace to accept the inevitable cycle of life and the promise of Christ that death will never have the final word. Life-giving Father, teach us to find our purpose and our world in You. Thank You for all Your past, present and future blessings. Thank You for the gift of salvation. Amen.
Today’s suggested penance
*Offer compassion and empathy to someone who is afflicted today.
“But far be it from me to glory except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” —Saint Paul.
Amen!! What a wonderful post.