Word to the Wise
Thursday, April 7, 2011 - 4th Week of Lent - Thurs
[Exod 32:7-14 and John 5:31-47]Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father: the one who will accuse you is Moses, in whom you have placed your hope. For if you had believed Moses, you would have believed me, because he wrote about me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?
One of the many dramatic devices in the Gospel of John is the way in which Jesus' "signs" introduce "discourses" in which he speaks about himself and his mission. The healing of the crippled beggar at Bethesda that was the subject of yesterday's gospel scripture serves as the introduction to the discourse about Jesus' testimony. It should be noted, too, that legal concepts such as "judgment" and "testimony" appear frequently in this gospel. In the scripture for today, Jesus defends his "testimony" about himself by indicating that he is supported by important "witnesses." These witnesses include John the Baptist, the "works" that Jesus does, the "Father" himself, and the scriptures!
The reference to the scriptures, which at that time would have meant the Hebrew scriptures (Old Testament) is one that we Catholics should pay some attention to. Jesus confronts his opponents with the fact that they do not have God's word "remaining" in them despite all their searching of the scriptures. Catholics before the Second Vatican Council were not likely to read the Bible on their own. We were not encouraged by Church authority to do so. The Council made a historic effort to remedy that unfortunate state of affairs, but there is still much work to do. Jesus' opponents were familiar with the scriptures but they were blinded to any possibility that those scriptures might refer to him. We Catholics are not so much blind as ignorant of, or indifferent to, scripture. Jesus is the "Word of God" and where that Word is put into human words in the scriptures, then that Word is present! If we read or hear those scriptures and take them to heart, we participate in a form of the "real presence."
If Lent is about "giving up something," it is also about acquiring something as well. We can acquire the habit of reading and meditating on the Word of God. That can have a greater long term effect than the 40 day sacrifice of chocolate! AMEN
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