Saturday in Lent V: March 31

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”                John 11: 25-26

Lazarus was dead and in the tomb four days when Jesus finally arrived at the home of Martha and Mary, Lazarus’ sisters. Their grief was inconsolable. Jesus had healed so many people, so many strangers. Couldn’t he have saved his friend? Martha and Mary are very understanding regarding Jesus’ absence. They don’t ask him, “Where were you?” or “What took you so long?” They simply acknowledge that had Jesus been there, their brother would not have died.

Jesus assures them that Lazarus will rise again, and they affirm a belief in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus then proclaims that he is the resurrection and the life, and that those who believe in him, even if they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in him will never die.

Never mind what Martha and Mary say to Jesus.

Do YOU believe this?

Friday in Lent V: March 30

MASKS
She had blue skin,
And so did he.
He kept it hid
And so did she.
They searched for blue
Their whole life through,
Then passed right by
And never knew.

UNDERFACE
Underneath my outside face
There’s a face that none can see.
A little less smiley,
A little less sure,
But a whole lot more like me.
Everything on It
Shel Silverstein

Who do we hide from when we hide a piece of who we are?
Are we seeking the approval of others?  Or ourselves?

You have looked deep into my heart, LORD, and you know all about me.
You know when I am resting or when I am working, and from heaven you discover my thoughts.
You notice everything I do and everywhere I go.
Before I even speak a word, you know what I will say.
Psalm 139: 1-4
Contemporary English Version (CEV)

Thursday in Lent V: March 29

The Samaritan woman said to Jesus, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?”    John 4: 7-15

It’s not too much of an overstatement to claim that most of the conflicts in our world are the result of labeling people and stereotyping those whom we see as different from ourselves. Such labeling diminishes our humanity and erects barriers between gender, race, and/or religion.

For the Jew, Samaria was indeed the no-go area, resulting from the deeply embedded scars of racial and religious conflicts from the past. Any self-respecting Jew travelling from the north to Jerusalem would have taken the longer route, circumventing Samaria. Yet here is Jesus, not only taking the direct route through Samaria, but holding a lengthy conversation with a Samaritan woman, much to the outrage of the returning disciples who pointedly ask, ‘What are you doing talking with her?’ ‘Stick to your own kind one of your own kind,’ as expressed in the musical, West Side Story. ‘Surely, Jesus, you should draw the line at her and her kind.’

We all draw lines between ourselves and others we have labeled as unacceptable, unclean or just different. Yet, wherever we draw a line, Jesus draws another line right through it – it’s the sign of the Cross: the sign of unconditional, infinite love which rejoices in and celebrates diversity.

Wednesday in Lent V: March 28

God loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.
                                                                                                                                             Psalm 33

This psalm, generally considered a psalm of praise, reminds us that God is a God of justice and righteousness, and full of steadfast love. So much of scripture would suggest a different kind of God. Some say, it’s in the Bible and that makes it right, right? But the Franciscan teacher and writer Richard Rohr suggests that interpreting any authoritative text requires us to use a whole different lens. He says, how we deal with sacred texts is how we deal with reality in general. And how we deal with reality in general is how we deal with sacred texts. We must test the spirit, and discern where the spirit of God is to be found in it. Just as humanity is imperfect, both reality and all sacred texts are fragmented and “imperfect” (1 Corinthians 13:12). It takes a certain level of human and spiritual maturity to interpret a Scripture. Vengeful and petty people find vengeful and hateful texts (and they are there)—but even when they are not there! Loving and peaceful people will hold out until a text resounds deep within them (and there are plenty there!). In short, only love can handle big truth.

Tuesday in Lent V: March 27

We love because he first loved us.
                                                  1 John 4: 19

Isn’t this the best news? Too often God is portrayed as judging, disappointed, and even angry. If that is the God you worship, what will that make you?

Answer: a judging, disappointed, and even angry person.

We need to be careful about what type of God we worship, because that is the type of person we will become. If we want to love, we first have to accept that God loves us.

True love begins with Christ.

If you want to know how genuine your love is, first determine how genuine you believe God’s love is for you.

Monday in Lent V: March 26

With all our new-fangled methods of communications and ways to ‘reach out and touch someone,’ we rarely ever actually touch someone anymore.  Think about it.  When was the last time you did something other than shake hands with someone (not counting the people who live in your house)?  For all our technological advances in the world of information transfer, we are connecting less and less with each other.  We can email – a great way to pass information off to someone without ever having to actually interact with them.  We can text-message – a personal favorite way of conveying an idea without intruding on someone’s day or having to make pleasantries.  And, of course, we can revert to that great combination of technology – caller ID and voicemail.  Instead of wondering if we missed an important call or what someone wanted, we get to choose who we will answer the phone for.  A kind of social superiority comes out of us when we have the opportunity to ignore someone without them realizing we did it.  We have more and more ways of actually getting hold of people but no one ever gets a hold of our soul.

Sunday Lent V: March 25

Almighty God, you alone can bring into order the unruly wills and affections of sinners: Grant your people grace to love what you command and desire what you promise; that, among the swift and varied changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.