April 3 2006

Jn 8:1-11 Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. But early in the morning he arrived again in the temple area, and all the people started coming to him, and he sat down and taught them. Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and made her stand in the middle. They said to him,“Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” They said this to test him, so that they could have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger. But when they continued asking him, he straightened up and said to them,“Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he bent down and wrote on the ground. And in response, they went away one by one, beginning with the elders. So he was left alone with the woman before him. Then Jesus straightened up and said to her,“Woman, where are they?Has no one condemned you?” She replied, “No one, sir.”Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you.Go, and from now on do not sin any more.”
The act of writing in the sand is most intriguing. The troubles of our times may be like writing in the sand that will be with time erased and rewritten over and over again. I at this moment think of Saint Therese seeing her life as being a grain of sand on a great shore.

April 2 2006

Reading I Jer 31:31-34 The days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers the day I took them by the hand to lead them forth from the land of Egypt; for they broke my covenant, and I had to show myself their master, says the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD. I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer will they have need to teach their friends and relativeshow to know the LORD. All, from least to greatest, shall know me, says the LORD, for I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sin no more.
Ps 51:3-4, 12-13, 14-15R. (12a) Create a clean heart in me, O God.Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness; in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense. Thoroughly wash me from my guilt and of my sin cleanse me.R. Create a clean heart in me, O God. A clean heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast spirit renew within me. Cast me not out from your presence, and your Holy Spirit take not from me. R. Create a clean heart in me, O God.Give me back the joy of your salvation, and a willing spirit sustain in me. I will teach transgressors your ways,and sinners shall return to you. R. Create a clean heart in me, O God.
Reading II Heb 5:7-9 In the days when Christ Jesus was in the flesh, he offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered; and when he was made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.
Gospel Jn 12:20-33 Some Greeks who had come to worship at the Passover Feastcame to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honor whoever serves me. “I am troubled now. Yet what should I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it and will glorify it again.” The crowd there heard it and said it was thunder; but others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered and said, “This voice did not come for my sake but for yours. Now is the time of judgment on this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.” He said this indicating the kind of death he would die.
All of the readings today mean so much to me and are among my favorite readings. I love the thought of God writing the law upon my heart and promising to be my God and that I will be one of God's people. It is a tender and caring God that would write a law in the hearts of the people. I find when I really comprehend and belive something it is a part of me and no longer a thing outside of me but in my heart and being.

Create a new heart in me has been my ongoing prayer and has intensified with Lent. I think that the writings of John Cassian helped me to incorporate the prayer create a new heart in me into my daily prayers throughout the day that are not seperated from what I do and who I am but a living of life as an ongoing prayer throughout the day.

Unless a single grain of wheat shall fall...I always think of the death to self that is asked of me as a Christian to fully live a Gospel life. It is a loss of the worldly and earthly rewards. It is a willingness to lay down my life for others. It is an embracing of the life of Christ. It is an acceptance the a Christian life will require sacrifice and suffering at times but upholds the way to the light and life that is greater than any earthly possession. I do not believe in unnecessarily creating suffering but I do believe in standing firm in faith in the Lord and carrying whatever burden that I see that I am being asked by God to carry. There is no simple way to always know things but I do know that I can always trust that God is loving and protecting and leading me in all that I do. Today I pray for the wisdom to see God's plans and path for me in what I do today.