3 April 2019 - Wednesday of the 4th week of Lent – John 5:17-23

        Jesus responds to a question in today’s Gospel in an unexpected way. He gets into trouble, not only for breaking the laws respecting the Sabbath, but also for the way he calls God his father, since with this terminology, Jesus would have been equating himself with God.

         Throughout history, many people who see God differently get into trouble with the Church, but often when they are long gone, the view can be seen more objectively and can be better appreciated. I think of mystics such as Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross, who experienced God in a very different way than was the norm in 16th century Spain.  In the middle of the backlash from the Protestant Reformation and at the height of the Spanish Inquisition, you can imagine that a mystical vision of God was not positively received during that era.  We can see it in our world today.  Not many years ago, Sister Elizabeth Johnson, who spent her entire adult life teaching at Catholic institutions such Fordham in New York and Catholic University in Washington DC, wrote a book about how people experienced God in their lives in the modern world called The Quest from the Living God. That book was criticized by some of our Church leaders in the United States.  

         We are called to see the world through the lens of our faith, so see where God is speaking to us and to view his presence in the reality of our lives.  I think of the different versions of the Way of the Cross that exist - Mary’s way of the cross, the Way of the Cross in the words of Pope Francis written in honor of the Year of Mercy, the Immigrants Way of the Cross, the way of the cross for youth, and the traditional way of the cross written by St Alphonsus Liguori in the 18th century.  All of them have something to say to us about our faith.  All of them help us see Jesus’ journey to the cross from a different perspective.  

         Lord, we thank you for the way you are present to us in the reality of our lives.  May we continue to walk with Jesus on his journey to the cross. May we continue to walk with him and to hear him speak to us.