Friday March 30, 2007

Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent

March 30, 2007



Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from my father. For which of these are you trying to stone me?”

John 10:32

_____________________________________________________________

I bet you have been there. You are at a stop light, it turns green, and the person in front of you does not move. You become impatient and frustrated and you think and say a few things that are not totally loving because you have a million things to do and you have got to get going. I was there recently. There was only one car in front of me, the light turned green but the car in front of me did not move for what seemed like an eternity (It was probably only four seconds but that is pretty close to eternity in our impatient world!). As I became impatient and frustrated counting off the seconds for this car to move through the intersection, I thought, “What part of green do you not understand? What part of green do you not like? Green means GO! Press down on your accelerator and GO!” After all these impatient thoughts of the near eternity of four seconds, the car in front of me finally started to move. Blessed relief came to me and now I could get to all the millions of things I needed to accomplish that day.



Just a few seconds after passing through the intersection, God spoke to me. The good Holy Spirit said, “John, what part of Jesus do you not like? What part of Jesus do you not understand? GO! Go into him! Push the petal to the metal of your life and accelerate into Jesus. What is there not to like and love and worship about him? You go and accelerate into so many other people and things that are not Jesus and they all dead-end. Why don’t you go into Jesus? You know why his body is on the cross, why we have the crucifix instead of just the cross? Because he suffered and gave his body for your salvation. It is real. His love for you is real! God could not be any more real for you or come closer to you than Jesus body hanging on a cross and dying for you. Jesus love is not a joke so stop treating it like it is one. A joke is something that you take lightly and do not pay much attention to. I want you to take his body for you seriously and give it your utmost love and undying attention. Look upon him whom they have pierced. Fix your gaze on Jesus. Go! Go into him!”



As Jesus’ ministry amplified and his good works were revealed, some wanted to kill him by stoning him. They sought to deny his good works by ridding him from the face of the earth. And how do we deny him and his works today? We do not go to him. We go to TV, money, games, computers, parties, malls, etc. but how often do we go to him? How often do we go to prayer, the scriptures, and church? How much of our free will are we using to deny him or give him full access?



What part of Jesus do you not like? What part of Jesus do you not understand? His love for you is real. It is not a joke. Accelerate into him. Go into him. Green means go! His body hanging on the cross for you means go!



Live the confronted life!

+Fr. John