Making a Joyful Noise through Lent 04/04/2014

Making a Joyful Noise through Lent – 04/04/2014

“There are Christians whose lives seem like Lent without Easter….Sometimes we are tempted to find excuses and complain, acting as if we could only be happy if a thousand conditions were met. To some extent this is because our “technological society has succeeded in multiplying occasions of pleasure, yet has found it very difficult to engender joy”.” (Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium: The Joy of the Gospel)

I could have used yesterday quote from Pope Francis and I almost did. In this last 10 days of Lent leading us up to Holy Week the Scripture seem focused on the same issues. Yet, I chose to combine these two sections from Pope Francis above because I think they address the issues that Jesus faces with the religious leadership, issues that sometimes we place before Jesus.

Pope Francis calls us to be joy filled people. He knows that it isn’t always easy to be joyful and that joy takes on different expressions. But it might be good for us to ask ourselves, “What excuses do we often give for not being a joyful person?  Are we a person who lives like Lent without Easter?

There seems to be much more tension between Jesus and the people in John's Gospel (John 7:1-2, 10, 25-30) than in the other three. Certainly in these waning days of Lent as we read John's Gospel we are made aware of the struggle most likely between Jesus and the religious leadership.

The leadership seems to be drawing upon tradition and Jesus seems focuses on the moment, the work that needs to be done. The leadership seems to be living out the words that we hear in the reading from the Book Wisdom (Wisdom 2:1a, 12-22) today about the wicked ones. They don't like what Jesus is saying. His words are challenging and demanding in a way that is difficult for people who have settled into a routine of life. Who have found a comfort zone that they do not want disturbed.

Are not we all like these religious leaders at times. We find a comfort zone, a routine to life and then we become angry when someone or something comes along and disturbs us, challenges us. It is particularly difficult when we somehow know that the person, the challenge, is right but we just do not want to change. We want to stay in our comfort zone and so we begin to find things wrong with the person, the place or the situation. If we can convince ourselves that we are right and they are wrong then all will be well.

The religious leaders try to do that today in the Gospel, the wicked ones try to do that in the Book of Wisdom and certainly from time to time we try to do it in our own lives. We cannot change the religious leaders of Jesus' time; we cannot change the wicked ones from the Book of Wisdom. These examples are history and told to us today so that we might not repeat their actions. Yes, our challenge is always to recognize God in our midst even if it means letting go of our comfort zone, even if it means changing our perspective, even if it means finding the truth in another.

We pray today Lord Jesus, be close to us because we do not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from your mouth! We live on the gift of your presence and the hope that it brings to life.

Have a great Friday everyone and don’t forget to make a joyful noise with your life today!

Daily Lenten Prayer: St. Augustine tells us that understanding is the reward given by faith so we should not try to understand in order to believe, but we should believe in order to understand. So we pray to you our loving God for the grace that will help us to always believe. Enliven us when we are weak with the strength to believe in your healing way and so that we may always live a holy way of life. Grant us the wisdom to recognize your presence in our lives that comes from within us and others. Be always near to us that when necessary we may take comfort in your love! Amen!

A Runner's Thoughts: Remember the little miracles of God that we encounter during a run are not because we finish but are because we find the courage to begin!

Daily Blessing: Happy Friday everyone! Sorry my reflections are a little late today but when I got home last night there was a pile of paperwork that needed addressed. That is one of the problems being on the road a lot there is always work waiting for you when you return home.

As I said yesterday my mission in St. Lawrence, Texas ended very nicely on Wednesday evening. We had a good crowd for the closing as we did for the whole mission. The youth choir sang and there was a wonderful down home in Texas spirit that hopefully will help all of us to continue our journey of faith. I am working to clean off my desk today so that I can head out again tomorrow for a mission at St. May’s Parish in Barnesville, MD. If you are in the Washington, Barnesville, Fredrick, Maryland area why not stop in and join us. I will be preaching all the masses Saturday and Sunday and then the mission will be Monday through Wednesday in the morning at 9:00 am and in the evening at 7:30 pm.

I hope everyone has had a good week. If not I hope you will have an easy Friday that will lead you into a relaxing and restful weekend. We are entering the 13 days of Lent which will bring us to the wonderful days of the Triduum and Easter. I will truly be praying for all of you during these days in a special way.

My prayer of blessing today is a simple one that all of us have a graced filled Friday, one that leads us into a weekend of rest and peace. May we all be blessed with richness of what matters to God and touched with the presence of God in all we do today and in whomever we meet! Have a peaceful Friday and a restful weekend. Peace in Christ's Passion...Fr. Paul