Friday – 5th Week of Lent

Gospel – John 10:31-42

One of Those Days

Capernaum, Sea of Galilee

Ever have one of those days?  A day when everything seems to go wrong?  You misplace your cellphone, you lock yourself out of the house, you spill your cup of coffee all over yourself and then the boss expects you to work late even though you have family plans!  And then, you ask yourself – what next! 

Jesus is not having a good day!  The Jews and Pharisees continue to debate (argue) with Him.  They remain stubborn and unconvinced that He is anything but a troublemaker and a blasphemer.  They refuse to really listen to His words.  They become so upset that they pick up stones to put Him to death.  Through it all, Jesus remains calm and tries to ‘reason’ with them.  But nothing works.  In the end, they try to arrest Him and He flees out of the city. 

You have to imagine how frustrated and heart-sick He must be – they just won’t listen and believe!  They want Him dead and He knows that time is coming very soon.  So He retreats out of the city to a familiar place, to the place where John baptized, where Jesus was baptized, where His public life and mission really began.  You have to imagine that, in some ways, this was a quiet place, a place to calm one’s fears and worries.  It could have been a place to set the troubles of the world aside and re-charge one’s spirit and soul.

I think we all have a place like that, a go-to place when we have one of ‘those’ days!  For me, it was always the rocks along Lake Michigan right outside Madonna Della Strada Chapel at Loyola University.  Whether it was when I was an undergrad or when I was working in the Registrar’s Office; that was the place to go.  And the weather didn’t matter; it could be calm and peaceful or it could be stormy with the waves crashing over the rocks.  It was my calming place where I could lay out the cares of my life, take a deep breath and then return to the world! 

The events of His arrest, scourging and crucifixion and death are only days away.  Jesus knows things will get a lot worse than a simple disagreement with some Jews, much worse.  So He goes off and takes the time to prepare Himself for what is to come. 

Maybe it’s a physical place, maybe it’s a favorite room or park, maybe it’s anywhere that gives us a moment of peace and quiet.  Wherever and whatever it is, God provides us all with the strength and the courage and the quiet resolve to face whatever life throws at us.

Great Spirit, help me today to see the world through Your eyes!

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