The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to live bravely amid forces that threaten our lives.
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| Self Isolation in Love |
The reading from the Book of Numbers describes the discontent of the Israelites and the role of the bronze serpent.
* [21:8] Everyone who has been bitten will look at it and recover: in the Gospel of John this scene is regarded as a type for the crucifixion of Jesus (Jn 3:14–15).1
The psalmist recalls God’s venerable promises to save the poor.
* [Psalm 102] A lament, one of the Penitential Psalms. The psalmist, experiencing psychological and bodily disintegration (Ps 102:4–12), cries out to God (Ps 102:1–3). In the Temple precincts where God has promised to be present, the psalmist recalls God’s venerable promises to save the poor (Ps 102:13–23). The final part (Ps 102:24–28) restates the original complaint and prayer, and emphasizes God’s eternity.2
In the Gospel of John, Jesus, the Father’s Ambassador, foretells His Death.
* [8:24, 28] I AM: an expression that late Jewish tradition understood as Yahweh’s own self-designation (Is 43:10); see note on Jn 4:26. Jesus is here placed on a par with Yahweh.3
Beth Samson urges us to continue to pray for the end of this global pandemic and prepare in hope for the dawn that is to come.
O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you.O Lord, hear my prayer for those most at risk.
For those whose age and medical condition make them more vulnerable.For those who are without a home, who live on our streets, who rely on social services to meet their daily needs.For those whose jobs are at risk.For the migrants and refugees around the world who are already fleeing for their safety.
O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you.O Lord, hear my prayer for those on the frontlines of response.
For the nurses, doctors, and medical professionals who show up everyday with energy, compassion, and resilience for the work of care ahead of them.For the grocery store workers and truck drivers keeping shelves stocked.For home care providers, stay-at-home and work-from-home parents.For mail carriers and package deliverers.
O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you.O Lord, hear my prayer for leaders making difficult and important decisions.
For leaders of countries, states, and cities.For leaders of faith communities and places of worship.For leaders of schools, daycares, and social services.For leaders of businesses, small and large.For leaders of hospitals, nursing homes, and clinics.
O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you.O Lord, hear my prayer for those who suffer.
For those who are sick, for those who face death because of this virus.For those who suffer loneliness, depression, anxiety, and isolation.For those who have lost their jobs.For all of us, because in one way or another, we are all suffering right now.
O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you.O Lord, hear my prayer for all those who have died from this virus.
For their loved ones who mourn their death.
O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you.O Lord, hear my prayer for the end of this global pandemic.O Lord, hear my prayer for relief, healing, hope, and protection.O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you. Amen.4
Don Schwager quotes “Aided by Christ's grace,” by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"God the Father said: 'I sent you One who would seek you out, walk with you, and forgive you. So he had feet to walk with and hands to forgive with. Thus, when he ascended after his resurrection, he showed hands, side, and feet: hands with which he gave pardon to sinners; and side from which flowed the ransom of the redeemed.'" (excerpt from Sermon 16A,10)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on John 8:21-30 declares that Jesus makes clear in today’s Gospel, his Father was with him at every moment. Now, because of our baptism, this is also true for us. When God sends us out, he remains with us.
God will be with you in whatever work or mission he asks of you. You might not always see the fruit of your efforts, but you can trust God to guide you, protect you, and give you every grace you need.
“Father, I believe that you are with me as I do the work you have sent me to do.”6
Friar Jude Winkler suggests the source of seraph serpents and the reason for the eventual expulsion of the bronze serpent from the Temple about 700 BCE. We can witness totemistic objects at sites where people celebrate their healing today. Friar Jude comments on the dualism in the Gospel as Jesus declares I AM.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, comments that the true spiritual teacher is not afraid to give us a dose of humiliation. If we immediately balk at some minor blow to our ego, the teacher knows that no basic transformation into our True Self has taken place yet. It takes a masterful teacher or mentor to teach us that we are not important. Otherwise, reality itself teaches us: painful life situations have to dismantle us brick by brick, decade by decade.
Jesus knew that he needed to destabilize a person’s false, separate self before they could understand that they had a True Self, but destabilizing our security systems and our ego is always a hard sell. He says, “What does it profit a person if they gain the whole world and lose their soul?” (Luke 9:25). Typically, it is the prophets who deconstruct the ego and the group, while priests and pastors are supposed to reconstruct them into divine union. As God said in the inaugural vision to Jeremiah: “Your job is to take apart and demolish, and then start over building and planting anew” (Jeremiah 1:10).
True master teachers, like Jeremiah and Jesus, are both prophets and pastors, which is why their teaching is almost too much for us. They both deconstruct and reconstruct. But the only reason they can tell us that we are not important is because they also announce to us our infinite and unearned importance. Maybe the reason we have to be reminded of the first truth is because we no longer believe the second. We no longer allow our separate self to be humiliated because we no longer believe in the Great Self.7
We are living in a community that senses the potential bite of a deadly virus. As we protect the health of the vulnerable around us, we share life as modeled for us by Jesus.
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