Tense for All Time

"Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am."(John 8:58). This declaration of Jesus in John’s Gospel from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today is increasing the case for the religious authorities to condemn Him as one possessed by a demon, a blasphemer and not the prophet or Messiah which is the hope of the crowds. It is a statement of Jesus nature. Being in past and present simultaneously is “outside the time”. It is timeless and infinite. It is the fullness of our experience of an indwelling Spirit which can move from memories to desires and sometimes leave us confused as to our time. Our glimpses of being timeless are grounded by a breath and a heartbeat which are now. Ironically, our passport to the timeless is only through the now. Our Spirit in the words of the psalmist desires to “Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his presence continually!” The Covenant as Abram experiences, recounted in Genesis, continues. The infinite becomes finite and humanity becomes what it is, the Body of Christ, in the timeless transcendence of the Eucharistic sacrament. I am is so we are.

Sons of Abraham

"If you were Abraham's children, you would do what Abraham did” (John 8:39) is from the texts in the Roman Catholic Lectionary for today. The evangelist presents a dialogue between the religious authorities and Jesus. There is disagreement over the nature of being sons of Abraham. The aspect of the faith of Abraham in which he responds to the call of God to action which requires trust beyond what his senses or traditional knowledge could comprehend is distant from these questioners. The “sons of Abraham” to whom Jesus speaks seem to be holding fast to safe human patterns of living. The degree to which we are bound by our direction and to which we follow our own “inner voice” in actions which protect our security, our comfort and our habits is the degree of our enslavement to sin. We deny the Presence like the opponents of Jesus in today’s Gospel. The life giving approach comes from the model of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed'nego in the Book of Daniel. These ‘sons of Abraham’ maintained their intimacy with the Divine even though this choice threatened their very physical existence. The canticle from the Book of Daniel provides a sample of the spontaneous praise which is resonant in the being of those ‘sons of Abraham’ through the intimacy of the indwelling Spirit with the Divine.

Freedom from Death

The psalmist in the texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today proclaims that “the LORD looked at the earth, to hear the groans of the prisoners, to set free those who were doomed to die” (Psalm 102). Death marks a transition as John discusses in Jesus observations that “I go away, and you will seek me and die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come.” (John 8:21). The Gospel today refers to the Son of Man being lifted up in accord with the will of the Father. This reference to the Will of the Father reminds the people of the episode recounted in the Book of Numbers when God responded to the petition of Moses to remedy the deaths of defiant people. Jesus dialogue in John’s Gospel presents the remedy to dying in a broken relationship with the Divine as trust that Jesus is the incarnate Word and that He and the Father are one. The salvation of the people in the desert with Moses continues in the Life-giving relationship experienced through the indwelling Spirit in the Life of Christ. This relationship goes beyond the transition time after which we cannot be seen.

Forgiveness Trumps

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today offer insight into the devious heart which overwhelms our actions when our self serving passions arise. Susanna, in the episode from the Book of Daniel, is apparently trapped by the evil elder judges into conviction for a crime she did not commit. The practice of Daniel to focus on methodical examination of detail in the stories of the liars is an effective method to uncover deceit. The lies in our stories are uncovered by the patient inquiry. Persecution by enemies is not excluded for believers. The verses of the 23^rd Psalm are most comforting when walking in the ‘valley of the Shadow of Death’. The trust of the believer is that the intimate banquet with the Divine in face of our persecutors is always possible. The invitation is presented to those who persecute to join us in our communion with the Divine. John relates the attempt of the religious authorities to trap Jesus in a charge of disobedience to the Law of Moses. The triumph of ‘group think’ when people assemble in a mob to “seek justice” is often the tragic consequence of the type of gathering which occurs in the Gospel. Jesus shows the seeking of the calm and inspiration of His relationship with the Father. The review of the situation in the ‘eyes of Love’ offers the challenge to the gathered ‘righteous’ to cast the first stone if they were without sin. The dialogue of Jesus with the woman indicates that she too was ‘not without sin’. The relationship with God brought to this situation places forgiveness first. This is so difficult and so needed.

Lazarus Lives

The texts of the Roman Catholic Lectionary on the fifth Sunday of Lent are rich in food for reflection. Fr Larry Gillick SJ suggests five themes for the Gospel today. They are death and resurrection, personal love of Jesus, Jesus’ calling us out of our personal tombs, The Light and The Life, and the role of “signs” or “works”. The short passage from the book of Ezekiel follows the “dry bones” episode (Ezekiel 37:1-14) where the prophet acts “in front of God” to minister the breath of Life from God putting flesh and life on lifeless bones. Paul exhorts the Romans to live in the indwelling Spirit which raised Jesus from the dead. The psalmist proclaims the intention to wait hopefully for the Lord. Living the intimate relationship with the Divine will bring steadfast love and redemption from our iniquities or our ‘personal tombs’. The details of Lazarus return from the dead in the Gospel of John offer the opportunity to reflect on the specific actions of Jesus and other persons included by the evangelist. The story is long and full of detail. The style of John is to make every word drip with meaning. The imagination will bring life to these words of life.

Dealing with Difference

The cry of Jeremiah in the text from the Roman Catholic Lectionary is a reaction to being challenged and threatened by the authorities by whom his prophetic message of change is rejected. The reaction of the people to Jesus action and words as presented in John’s Gospel is that some listen and consider the possibility that He is the promised Messiah. The understanding of the authorities is that Jesus practices and advocates changes in the way the people of Israel relate to God. The response is to dismiss the dialogue by reference to a “fact” which forces selection of an option and a conclusion. This technique is a familiar one. We tend to resort to the “shut down” when we are not open to hear. The danger of “dual thinking”, where we confine the possibilities to one of two options is raised by Franciscan author Richard Rohr as an obstacle to relating with the world and the Divine.

Acting on What we Hear

The texts of the Roman Catholic Lectionary today bring to mind the actions of bullying which seems to be more present today in our society. The response we have to encountering a different approach to life than our own, too often is to attempt to find fault with the alternative we witness. The Book of Wisdom details the plotting of people against the virtuous man who by his very actions appears to cause anger and guilt to rise in those who are unable to appreciate his choice of virtue. When a companion will not “go along with the crowd”, particularly when the crowd is slipping into less desirable action, we quickly push the ‘goody’ to the margins. The psalmist reminds us that the intimate relationship with the Divine offered by God is the source of salvation for those crushed in spirit. The righteous person understands the protection and deliverance of Providence. The Gospel of John relates the return of Jesus to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles. Some of the people recognize Him as the one who speaks and acts in a manner which has angered the religious authorities. They are confused about His identity as the Christ, the anointed. The guidance of the authorities would seem to discourage seeing Him as One from God. He is protected in this visit from capture by the authorities. The will of the Father which He lives is providing His security.