Meditation: Thursday 4th Week of Lent

I do not receive Glory from Men. (John 5:41), Jesus says, in a long discourse to the Jews, about how the scriptures are fulfilled in him. These words show a constant attitude during his life on Earth: His ardent concern to carry out the father's will. We see this during his hidden life, when, with great naturalness, he spends 30 years without attracting attention in a small town in Galilee. We also see this during his public life when, acting with complete freedom of spirit, Jesus seeks to transfer his teachings as the one sent by the Father. This determination to always do God's will stemmed from knowing that the plans of God the Father are always the wisest and best possible, the source of consolation for all men and women.

The Lord Jesus Christ experienced the full realization of his freedom on the cross, as the pinnacle of love. On Calvary, they shouted: “If you are the Son of God, come down from that cross!” He showed his freedom as Son precisely by remaining on the gibbet to fully accomplish the merciful will of the Father. Christ does not stay on the cross simply out of a desire to suffer but to show that even in these painful and awful circumstances, God's love is more significant than any other force. The good attained is immense: the path back home is opened up for us.

And, like Jesus, in our effort to carry out God's will, we will find the cross, and the possibility of experiencing God's love is more significant than any other force. Although we can never wholly grasp this truth, this experience can be the path and expression of love. At times, that cross may become heavier for us, but we see how our Lord prefers to embrace it rather than letting go of it. The way to Calvary
is difficult, but this struggle is something marvelous, an actual proof of the love of God, who wants us to be strong, because virtue is made strong in weakness according to the Apostle Paul in second Corinthians 12:9. Jesus himself will help us to be united to the loving will of the Father, which brings joy and peace, and even happiness in the cross.

God showed his sadness when the people of Israel abandoned him to worship a golden calf. His people, whom he loved and saved with marvelous deeds, had forgotten these divine favors during their journey through the desert. They had turned aside quickly out of the way...And the Lord said to Moses: Therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn not against them and I may consume them (Ex 32:8-10).

We, too, are the people of God, and we know well what our hearts are like. Each day we must take up our journey again so as not to slide slowly towards idols, towards fantasies, towards worldliness, towards unfaithfulness.” Therefore, especially during Lent, we can ask the Holy Spirit for light to shine on the path back to the Father. Remembering God’s love and the wonders He has worked in our lives, as He did with the people of Israel, will lead us to travel this path with the conviction that being close to Him is where we are genuinely delighted.

This conversion, however, is not a matter of a day but of a lifetime. Hence, what is decisive is not the immediate results but the desire to always remain close to Jesus, unmerited favor. We are called to practice rigorous self-denial, abstinence from worldly pleasures, and struggle to maintain spiritual balance; then there is interior life. That is what our Lord is asking of us: the will to want to love him with deeds, in the little things of every day. If you have conquered little things, you will also destroy the big ones.

Prayer:
Almighty and most merciful God, drive from us all weakness of body, mind, and spirit; that, being restored to wholeness, we may, with free hearts, become what you intend us to be and accomplish what you want us to do; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, One God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Written by Gregory Harewood