The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to prepare spiritually for difficulties as followers of Christ that may arise in our relationships with people in our environment.
In the reading from the Prophet Jeremiah, his life is threatened.
Psalm 7 is a plea for help against persecutors.
* [Psalm 7] An individual lament. The psalmist flees to God’s presence in the sanctuary for justice and protection (Ps 7:2–3) and takes an oath that only the innocent can swear (Ps 7:4–6). The innocent psalmist can thus hope for the just God’s protection (Ps 7:7–14) and be confident that the actions of the wicked will come back upon their own heads (Ps 7:15–17). The justice of God leads the psalmist to praise (Ps 7:18). (Psalms, PSALM 7 | USCCB, n.d.)
In the Gospel of John, Jesus encounters division among the people and the unbelief of those in authority.
* [7:40–53] Discussion of the Davidic lineage of the Messiah. (John, CHAPTER 7 | USCCB, n.d.)
Eileen Wirth comments that Jesus was a social outsider because of his roots. No wonder he felt comfortable defying authorities by curing lepers on the Sabbath, chatting with a Samaritan woman, and socializing with tax collectors. The authorities wouldn’t have accepted him because he was a Galilean. Period. And the same goes for his crowd members. Knowing the Talmud wouldn’t have changed anything. They would still have despised them.
I hope this makes you a bit uncomfortable as it does me because I’m guessing that most of us are comfortable, middle class people who can’t help being ill-at-ease with social outcasts like those in Jesus’s crowds. Would we also be uncomfortable with Jesus?
I remember listening to workers at a food pantry when I volunteered for a parish service day. They were discussing how hard it was to find a job when you were on probation for felony substance abuse as well as their family problems, housing difficulties and much more. Unlike me, they couldn’t escape to middle America feeling noble after their shifts ended at noon. (Wirth, n.d.)
Don Schwager quotes “Not by walking but by loving,” by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"We approach God not by walking but by loving. The purer our love for him toward whom we are striving, the more present to us will he be. To him, therefore, who is everywhere present and everywhere whole, we must proceed not by our feet but by our moral virtues - judged not by the object of our knowledge but by the object of our love." (excerpt from Letter 155,13) (Schwager, n.d.)
The Word Among Us Meditation on Psalm 7:2-3, 9-12 comments that Jerusalem’s leaders were conspiring to kill him because he was calling them to repent. When Jeremiah learned of their plot, he reacted the way many of us might. In bitterness he prayed that he might “witness the vengeance” God would take on them (Jeremiah 11:20).
Your heavenly Father loves you so much that he offers himself to you as a refuge for the hard times and for the ordinary days. Even when you want to lash out in anger against someone, as Jeremiah did, he offers you a place to rest and regain your peace. His arms are always open to you!
“Lord, you are my place of constant refuge!” (Meditation on Psalm 7:2-3, 9-12, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler comments on the theme in the reading from Jeremiah that God take vengeance on the people who are threatening to kill Jeremiah because of his assertion that the difficulty of the people is the consequence of their rejection of the Way of God. Today we might ask for God to be a judge between our enemies and ourselves rather than seek vengeance. Friar Jude reminds us that the three encounters of Nicodemus with Jesus show that faith grows in stages.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, offers a prayer to welcome reality, so we can experience the Reign of God, what he calls the Really Real. The purpose of prayer and religious seeking is to see the truth about reality, to know what is. And at the bottom of what is is always goodness. The foundation is always love.
Enlightenment is to recognize and touch the big mystery, the big pattern, the Big Real. Jesus called it the Reign of God; Buddha called it enlightenment. Philosophers might call it Truth. Many of us experience it as Foundational Love. Here is a mantra you might repeat throughout your day to remind yourself of this:
God’s life is living itself in me. I am aware of life living itself in me.
God’s love is living itself in me. I am aware of love living itself in me.
We cannot not live in the presence of God. This is not soft or sentimental spirituality; it ironically demands confidence that must be chosen many times and surrender that is always hard won. (Rohr, n.d.)
We ponder the path of moving closer in our relationship with God and accept the difficulties that we may encounter on our journey.
References
Jeremiah, CHAPTER 11 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved March 16, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/jeremiah/11?18
John, CHAPTER 7 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved March 16, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/7?40
Meditation on Psalm 7:2-3, 9-12. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved March 16, 2024, from https://wau.org/meditations/2024/03/16/913854/
Psalms, PSALM 7 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved March 16, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/7?2
Rohr, R. (n.d.). Encountering Reality: Weekly Summary. CAC Daily Meditations. Retrieved March 16, 2024, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/encountering-reality-weekly-summary/
Schwager, D. (n.d.). Reaction to Jesus' Words. Wikipedia. Retrieved March 16, 2024, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2024&date=mar16
Wirth, E. (n.d.). Daily Reflection Of Creighton University's Online Ministries. Creighton University's Online Ministries. Retrieved March 16, 2024, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/031624.html
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