Todays Reading : Saturday of the fourth week of Lent
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Meditation
The Prophet Jeremiah cries out, “Yet I, like a trusting lamb led to slaughter,
had not realized that they were hatching plots against me: Let us destroy the tree in its vigor;
let us cut him off from the land of the living, so that his name will be spoken no more.”
It is hard to live in the world today where abortion is often in the news, whether it is during an election cycle or when laws on lifting restrictions are being challenged or passed. For those of us who know the devastation that abortion brings, it is often a painful reminder of how we were deceived and led down a path of lies and false promises. When we hear the news, it can be a time where frustration and anger arise. I find myself often yelling at the TV or lamenting out loud after I have read an article. Why don’t people see the truth? Why do they ignore the science when it comes to human life? Why are well known Catholic politicians and clergy complacent and refuse to speak out on the evil of abortion?
“O LORD, my God, in you I take refuge; save me from all my pursuers and rescue me,
Lest I become like the lion’s prey, to be torn to pieces, with no one to rescue me.”
When I try to reason with others presenting the truth in a rational and loving way, I am often confronted with all the talking points and false narratives that accompany this issue. It is only in those times if I am able to share my own story, that some stop to listen and have a different view. The truth will set you free.
“This is truly the Prophet. Others said, this is the Christ. So, a division occurred in the crowd because of him. Some of them even wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him”.
Jesus knows our pain. He knows what it is like to be rejected. He knows what it is like to confront others who believe their truth is the only truth. He came into this world to teach all to repent of our sins and believe in and spread the Gospel. Many never believed, calling him a false prophet. In John’s Gospel today, the Pharisees argued that Jesus was not from the right town, so he was not to be listened to. We face similar rejection when we are coming from a place that is different from others. We have experienced the darkness. Through our own healing journeys, we begin to understand what is true and what is false.
Jesus alone is the Truth, the Life and the Way. Only through the Divine Physician will we find the forgiveness and restoration that we seek. May we be blessed with the courage to defend life in the ways that God calls us to. Pray for those who do not believe and who are unable to hear our voices when we are called to share what is true.
Mary Kominsky
