3/13/13 – Wednesday of 4th week in Lent – John 5:17-23

         For the way Jesus responds to a question in today’s Gospel, 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 Teresa of Avila, one of my favorite saints.  She lived in Spain in the 16^th century right after the Protestant Reformation.  Because of her attempts to reform the Carmelite religious order to which she belonged, and because of her very mystical vision of God, she was questioned and harassed by Church authorities.  In our own day, we have theologians like Sister Elizabeth Johnson who teaches at Fordham.  She wrote a book about how people experience God in their lives in the modern world, and she also has been condemned by Church authorities. 

         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.  Here at St James Catholic Church in Tupelo, we have chosen the Immigrants’ Way of the Cross for our commemoration of Good Friday, since many members of our Hispanic community who will be dramatizing this Way of Cross are currently experiencing this same reality.  Reading the reflections on this Way of the Cross really helps me walk in their shoes.

         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.