Saturday, March 23, 2013

3/27/2013 – Wednesday of Holy Week– Isaiah 50:4-9;


        In the middle of Holy Week, we hear the prophet Isaiah foreshadow what Jesus is to endure in his passion as he makes his journey to the cross.  Jesus made his way to the cross by not rebelling,  by not turning his back.  As Isaiah foreshadows, he does not give his back to those who beat him, nor his cheeks to those who pluck out his beard.  His face does not shield him from the buffets, from all the indignities that are heaped upon him. 
      Yet, Isaiah states, “The Lord God is my help – therefore I am not disgraced.”  Even though Jesus was treated disgracefully, even though they tried to shame him every way they could, Jesus, in reality, was not disgraced due to his relationship with God.  God’s reality is different from what we human beings see on the surface of life.  God brings grace and dignity to our lives, most especially to the moments of difficulty and struggle and suffering that we endure. 
         God so identifies with the poor, the abandoned, and those that suffer.  What Pope Francis is doing tomorrow for the Holy Thursday services is a strong demonstration of this identification.  Rather than celebrate tomorrows service at the basilicas of St Peter in Vatican City or St John Lateran in Rome, Pope Francis will celebrate this service in commemoration of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples at a prison facility for youth on the outskirts of Rome.  What an important message the pope is bringing to the world in his actions, in living the Gospel message so strongly in that moment. 
         God did not abandon Jesus; he did not abandon the martyrs who died for our faith.  In the midst of our suffering, in the midst of our struggles, in the midst of our daily reality, God does not abandon us.  God is there.  

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