Monday of the Fifth Week of Lent
Intention: For justice in our world, especially for all who are forgotten or excluded, abandoned or abused, persecuted or exploited, that people of good will might rise to their defense and come to their aid.
Today’s Gospel | John 8:12-20
Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” So the Pharisees said to him, “You testify on your own behalf, so your testimony cannot be verified.” Jesus answered and said to them, “Even if I do testify on my own behalf, my testimony can be verified, because I know where I came from and where I am going. But you do not know where I come from or where I am going. You judge by appearances, but I do not judge anyone. And even if I should judge, my judgment is valid, because I am not alone, but it is I and the Father who sent me. Even in your law it is written that the testimony of two men can be verified. I testify on my behalf and so does the Father who sent me.” So they said to him, “Where is your father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” He spoke these words while teaching in the treasury in the temple area. But no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.
Reflection
In today’s Gospel, Jesus again is dealing with his enemies within the Temple leadership. As they challenge Jesus’ words, the Pharisees ask questions that sound as if they do not grasp what Jesus is telling them. In fact, they understand quite well what Jesus is saying, but they are determined to undermine it. He knows their thinking and the depth of their corruption, and so they cannot let him continue his ministry. They have done too well by their own agenda to allow it to be exposed for what it is: darkness posing as light.
There might be no emotional force stronger than that of aspiration. We live very much for and through our dreams, especially those that represent fulfillment. What people want more than anything else is that they and their loved ones can live having reached that place of happiness where they always have wanted to be. Perhaps that is why we tend to gravitate so quickly to anyone who tells us what we want to hear about that dream, and why we can be so easily confused about what fulfillment really looks like.
For the Pharisees in John’s Gospel, having control over people’s image of fulfillment was central to their power. By playing on their fears and appealing to their biases, it was possible to construct a picture that looked like salvation. In fact, it was a trap, a collection of fallacies and hypocrisies dressed to look like hope. On the surface, all seemed to make sense. When one is desperate to believe something, then one can come to believe anything, even that shadows are sun and wrong is right. Looking harder and deeper was discouraged as something best left to those who held the image. The truth became, at best, inconvenient and, at worst, the enemy, causing people to fear and reject the very things that they had sought their whole lives.
The philosopher Plato once said, “We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.” To be truly wise and truly fulfilled, we must be willing to step into the totality of our human condition and meet the God who is present and waits for us there. During this time of Lent, we reflect on Christ’s call to turn away from our delusions and deceptions, to follow the light and to encounter and embrace for ourselves the truth of who we are and who we are meant to be. In a world where light and darkness are so easily confused, we pray for the grace to know the difference and the courage to live as children of the light.
Prayer
Eternal Father, the light of your Son is meant to help us make our way without becoming lost in darkness. Yet, there are times when we are living in darkness and do not even realize it. In this time of Lent, help us to awaken ourselves to the reality of our sinfulness and our need to follow you into the light. May we come to know and serve you better, and may we always walk in the truth of your ways. We ask this of you who lives and reigns with your Son and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.