The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today encourage our direct contact with God in a frank contemplation of the issues that may be inhibiting our wholehearted witness to the Love we experience in Christ.
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| Wholehearted witness |
The Book of Exodus describes the chutzpah of Moses in communication with God while the Israelites worship the Golden Calf.
* [32:11–13] Moses uses three arguments to persuade the Lord to remain faithful to the Sinai covenant even though the people have broken it: (1) they are God’s own people, redeemed with God’s great power; (2) God’s reputation will suffer if they are destroyed; (3) the covenant with Abraham still stands. The Lord’s change of mind is a testimony to Israel’s belief in the power of intercessory prayer.1
Psalm 106 exhorts us to praise the God whose mercy has always tempered judgment of Israel.
* [Psalm 106] Israel is invited to praise the God whose mercy has always tempered judgment of Israel (Ps 106:1–3). The speaker, on behalf of all, seeks solidarity with the people, who can always count on God’s fidelity despite their sin (Ps 106:4–5). Confident of God’s mercy, the speaker invites national repentance (Ps 106:6) by reciting from Israel’s history… instances of sin, judgment, and forgiveness... the golden calf episode (Ps 106:19–23; see Ex 32–34), 2
In the Gospel from John, the Father is identified as Witness to Jesus even as we learn of the unbelief of Jesus’ hearers.
* [5:32] Another: likely the Father, who in four different ways gives testimony to Jesus, as indicated in the verse groupings Jn 5:33–34, 36, 37–38, 39–40.3
Carol Zuegner observes that Moses asks God to relent from punishing those who have strayed, who didn’t listen to God and Moses. God does listen and relents. In the Gospel reading from John, Jesus seems exasperated that people don’t listen or if they do listen, they don’t hear. He tells of people searching the Scriptures to find eternal life, yet they don’t want to come to Jesus to have that life.
Today’s readings made me realize that this lack of listening, or perhaps it is listening and not really hearing, also characterizes my relationship with God. I have instructions, suggestions and admonitions, but I often stray away from what I should do and who I should be. I don’t hear. I may listen to the Gospel, but I’m easily swayed by my own bullheadedness. I pray that I really hear God and that I listen with an open heart and a mind and a will that are open to God’s way, not just my way.4
Don Schwager asks “Do you believe that God's word has power to set you free from sin and ignorance and to transform you to be like him?” He cites Saint Augustine of Hippo (354-430 A.D.).
"As Christians, our task is to make daily progress toward God. Our pilgrimage on earth is a school in which God is the only teacher, and it demands good students, not ones who play truant. In this school we learn something every day. We learn something from commandments, something from examples, and something from sacraments. These things are remedies for our wounds and materials for study."5
The Word Among Us Meditation on John 5:31-47 suggests that we all know that God wants to reveal himself to us through Scripture. But just like everything else in the Christian life, Scripture won’t just magically make sense to us. We need to cooperate with the Spirit, and that takes some time, attention, and perseverance.
• Select a Scripture passage that you want to read. Maybe you will choose to follow the daily Mass readings with the meditations in this magazine.
• Don’t read right away, but begin with prayer. If you feel like singing or humming a hymn from Mass, do it.
• Next, read the Scripture passage you have chosen.
• Read it again slowly, dwelling on the words or phrases that struck you.
• Use your imagination to place yourself in the scene described in this passage.
• Imagine that Jesus is sitting across from you and telling you this story himself.
• Be still. During this quiet period, some words or pictures may bubble up in your thoughts. This may be God speaking to you—especially if the images and thoughts lead you closer to Christ, fill you with hope, or stir your heart to love and forgive.
• Try to write out what you think God is saying to you, and close with a prayer of praise and thanksgiving.
God wants to reveal himself to us in Scripture. Only by quiet reflection will we learn to hear his voice.6
Friar Jude Winkler comments that Moses intercedes with chutzpah with God for people who have been an albatross around Moses’ neck. The goal for ministry is for everything to go in a loving way. Friar Jude underlines the witness to Jesus of his works and the Father in the Gospel.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, shares that all great spirituality is about letting go. Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection show us how to win by losing. In fact, this “Path of Descent” could be called the metanarrative of the Bible. It is so obvious, consistent, and constant that it’s hidden in plain sight. Christianity has overlooked this overwhelmingly obvious message by focusing on other things. Why did that happen? How is it that we were capable of missing what appears to be the major point? Fr Richard thinks it has to do with the Spirit patiently working in time and growing us historically. He thinks it has to do with human maturity and readiness. And he thinks it has a lot to do with the ego and its tactics of resistance. Author Philip Simmons (1957–2002) shared what it took to awaken him to this wisdom.
Only when we accept our present condition can we set aside fear and discover the love and compassion that are our highest human endowments. And out of our compassion we deal justly with those about us. Not just on our good days, not just when it’s convenient, but everywhere and at all times we are free to act according to that which is highest in us. And in such action we find peace.7
The chutzpah of Moses is a letting go that puts everything on the line for the other. Our witness of winning by losing speaks of the transformation that we are invited to experience in our journey to fullness in life.
References
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(n.d.). CHAPTER 32 The Golden Calf. 1When the people saw that Moses .... Retrieved April 4, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/exodus/exodus32.htm
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(n.d.). Psalms, chapter 105 - usccb. Retrieved April 4, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/psalms/105
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(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections - OnlineMinistries - Creighton University. Retrieved April 4, 2019, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
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(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved April 4, 2019, from https://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/
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6
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(n.d.). Meditations - The Word Among Us. Retrieved April 4, 2019, from https://wau.org/meditations/2019/04/04
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(n.d.). Daily Meditations Archive: April 2019 - Daily Meditations Archives .... Retrieved April 4, 2019, from https://cac.org/category/daily-meditations/2019/04
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