Lent 2020

 

Reflection: Thursday of the Fourth Week of Lent

STM Justly_purple final_300Today’s gospel is preceded by a visit Jesus makes to Jerusalem for a feast.  While there, he sees a pool where people who are sick and handicapped are waiting to step into to be cured.  There was a man there who had a sickness for thirty-eight years.  He could not get into the pool.  Jesus says, “Arise, take your pallet and walk.”  The man walked.  The catch was that this happened on the Sabbath, a day when no work was to be done.  When the people found out that it was Jesus who made the man well, their entire focus was on the fact that Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath.  For this, the people were seeking all the more to kill Jesus.  He was not only breaking the Sabbath but he was also calling God his Father, making himself equal with God. 

In today’s passage, Jesus speaks to the people very strongly, saying that indeed, it is God the Father who has sent him.  He makes a very strong statement that the works that he does are works that the Father has given him to accomplish and that these works testify that the Father has sent him.  In another part of this gospel, Jesus tells his people that they accept praise from one another but do not seek the praise that comes from God. 

As Catholics, we believe that Jesus came into this world to become “one of us.”  Yes Jesus was divine, but he was also as human as we are…ONE OF US.   In his humanity, he showed us the way to live by those very works that he did to accomplish his Father’s will.  We all know that we as Christians are called to be as Christ-like as we can be…to follow the same way of living as Jesus, so as to accomplish God’s will.  Many worldly accomplishments we get can be inflating and perhaps at times give us a false sense of importance.  The accomplishments that really matter are those that are Christ-like. 

In this time of emergency, sadness, and loss in our world, how are we Christ-like?  What are the works we might accomplish in the name of the Father?  Although we are asked to “socially distance” and even stay in our homes, what do we as Christians do?  How do we react to all the suffering and losses around us?  Many in our STM community are on the front lines.  They sacrifice their well-being every day for the sake of others.  Others of us wonder…what can we do? 

I work with the elderly but many of the people I work with are in assisted living communities or nursing homes.  I am not allowed to go in at this time.  These elders are very lonely and very bewildered.  Why have I been abandoned, some are asking?  Why do I not see my family?  Some are dying without families by their side.  I try to do Facetime, write many notes, send pictures and pray…whatever helps keep them connected and feeling loved. 

There are many elderly people in your neighborhoods who may be panicked and bewildered.  They may not have support even to get the supplies they need. They may be frightened that they will lose all their life savings or that they may not see their children and grandchildren again.  They may just need a friendly social distance visit, a phone call, an offer to get something at the local store…anything that helps a person feel cared for and loved.  Yes, cared for by God, through you.

However you choose to do God’s will, shown to us by Jesus, that will be your great accomplishment.  You have been generously graced by God.  You have many gifts given to you.  These gifts you must bring with open hands and heart to your community and to the world…to so many who surround you and beg for compassion.  The Christ you love will point the way. Let your little acre of God’s world see clearly in you, the Christ you were created to image…the Christ who is Christ for others.  The Christ who is one with God. 

Bernadette DiGiulian '83 M.Div.

Bernie is a member of the STM Community.