Search
Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Lent
-
April 6, 2022“Blessed are they who kept the word with a generous heart.”— Luke 8
So often in the gospel we are privy to Jesus’ conversations with the hierarchy of the Jewish religion. During these discussions we find that Jesus is trying to explain that one’s genealogy or one’s family pedigree in no way determines one’s goodness. Because Abraham is our father, we are not automatically predestined for happiness.
The prophet Daniel gives us a vivid description of King Nebuchadnezzar’s threat to the brothers, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. If they do not worship the king’s manufactured gods, they will be killed. In both readings today we are faced with the king’s arrogance and the Jews’ stubbornness. The theme running through our Scriptural words today is “truth.” Can the truth really set the brothers and the Jews free? Can the truth set us free?
From the beginning of the gospel told by all four evangelists, Jesus gives us a clear message, a message that has been handed down from Abraham. Don’t make yourselves a slave of anyone or anything. Don’t depend on family connections. Don’t depend on wealth. Don’t depend on social media. None of these in themselves will lead to an experience of God, to a loving relationship with God. None of these will help us to understand other people and treat them with fairness and kindness.
Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and Jesus possess an unquestioning faith in God. All of them are willing to sacrifice their lives because of their deep relationship with God. So, where does this information leave us? Jesus asks us to make room in our hearts for our God. We refer to that “room” as a deep experience of God. A secure way to nurture such a relationship—the way we do with a friend or a lover—is to spend time with the person. Remember the song, “Getting to know you, getting to know all about you”? Instead of spending ten minutes scrolling our phones, we can quiet our minds and hearts and listen to what God is saying to each of us. Instead of cursing out the annoying motorist in front of us on the highway, we can pause, catch our breath and silence the anger within us. Instead of giving into our negative thoughts, we can transform them into acceptance and kindness. There are a myriad of ways that we can respond to God and be truthful within ourselves if we take the time to be aware of what is going on within us and around us. Living in the present moment is prayer. We are aware. We are free. “And the truth will set you free.”
Throughout the gospel, Jesus describes our God as a loving God. He further elucidates how we can become more alert in self-knowledge as well as consideration for other people: “And the truth will set you free.” Let us ponder Jesus’ advice to us in our own self-awareness of sin (slavery) and gifts (freedom).
Yes, God does love us unconditionally. That is the truth, and our response to that love will set us free.
Imagine the ripple effect if we all responded to God with our own personalities and treated each other in like manner. Perhaps, we would not have had two world wars or the present genocide in Ukraine. “And the truth will set you free.”
