Thursday 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 good people everywhere will rise to their defense and come to their aid.
Today’s Gospel | John 8:51-59
Jesus said to the Jews: “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever keeps my word will never see death.” So the Jews said to him, “Now we are sure that you are possessed. Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.’ Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? Or the prophets, who died? Who do you make yourself out to be?” Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is worth nothing; but it is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ You do not know him, but I know him. And if I should say that I do not know him, I would be like you a liar. But I do know him and I keep his word. Abraham your father rejoiced to see my day; he saw it and was glad.” So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old and you have seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM.” So they picked up stones to throw at him; but Jesus hid and went out of the temple area.
A Lenten Reflection
It is safe to say that journeys of faith, understood as our daily efforts to connect our experiences to their spiritual source and significance, will be somewhat unique to every individual. At the same time, however, they always will have in common at least one characteristic: every journey will call its participant to radical decisions about how to live. In the language of religion, this is referred to as conversion. From the Greek word metanoia, which means “to turn again”, conversion is the act of, in the midst of our imperfections and mistakes, constantly returning ourselves to God’s ways. It demands change – change of heart and change of life. Such change is rarely easy. It often involves a struggle between living either with clenched fists or with open hands.
What causes us to want to live with clenched fists, where we can neither release what we grip nor grasp anything else? It often comes down to wanting to feel secure, safely ensconced in whatever we consider to be the place of our strength and well-being. If this place can only be made up of what we can control and not of anything that requires trust, then there is no room for anything that admits to uncertainty. We believe only so long as we are insulated from doubt. However, as author Anne Lamott points out: “The opposite of faith is not doubt: It is certainty.” The essence of faith is confidence in the inevitability of God’s activity, regardless of any uncertainty.
The season of Lent calls us to reflect on our own faith life. Are we insecure, unwilling to experience anything that calls us to new territory? Or are we prepared to admit our ongoing need to grow and to welcome when life comes to us as gift and surprise? There can be no faith that is never tested or refuses to be challenged. Turning away from sinfulness is a matter of turning away from the worship of certainty, of accepting the wisdom of having faith, of unclenching our fists and opening our hands to receive the healing and nourishing grace of God.
Prayer
Eternal Father, your love has been present since the beginning of all things and continues to touch us today. It sees sin and loves the sinner. It sees failings and forgives. In this time of Lent, may we be grateful for your constant faith in us. Help us to turn away from our sinfulness and return ourselves to you, and to be signs of your saving presence to others, especially those who are most in need. We ask this of you who lives and reigns with your Son and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.