The succor of friendship, loyalty, and fidelity is vital to our wellbeing. We are often in a position of weakness, vulnerable to the slings and arrows of daily life. Some projectiles come from the seemingly random effects of disorder in our world, like the impact of storms, accidents, or disease. In some ways, these are expected. We simply must deal with them. People often bond together to help one another through these challenges, which can happen to anyone. We know that our time for trouble may come, too.
But other afflictions come from an unexpected source, as when we experience betrayal, attacks, and afflictions from those close to us. We experience firsthand the distorting effects of sin and evil. For people of faith, these experiences lead us to cry out to God to defend and deliver us. Today’s Psalm shows us the depth of an ancient cry for help, bolstered by assurance that God is listening and already at work. God is good all the time, as that is His nature. Human nature, not so much.
Jeremiah’s prophetic discourse also shows the distorting effects of evil upon the human heart. Sin darkens our minds and disorders our senses, even causing us to draw a kind of satisfaction from finding flaws and errors in otherwise good people. Blotting out the true, the good, and the beautiful seemingly removes the light, restoring the darkness that evil prefers. But as it is written in John’s gospel, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:5).
John’s gospel for today shows Jesus in the midst of a conflict with his own people – those he had been sent to deliver the good news of redemption. They could experience good from our Lord’s presence and his miraculous works performed among them, but they could not embrace the light he offered. Indeed, they seem not to want to know about the light. Instead of discourse, they chose a violent path, which our Lord somehow escaped this time. He retreated to a wilderness. But note that others still drew near to him, drawn by his witness of the light.
During this Lenten journey, we have been challenged to pursue metanoia – repentance and the change of heart that opens us to embrace the works of God in our lives. God is inviting us to choose His light. He shows his depth of commitment to us, as our Lord left a world in which friendship, loyalty, and faithfulness were perfect and undiminished in order to join us in our world in which he would experience the sting of treachery and abandonment. How much that must have cost our Lord to bring light to us! Can this understanding help us embrace metanoia more deeply? May these events be in our hearts as we approach Holy Week. Thanks be to God.
Edward Morse
Ed Morse is a professor of law who holds the McGrath North Endowed Chair in business law at Creighton. University School of Law. He and his wife Susan are Catholic converts. Together, they operate a family cattle farm in rural Western Iowa.
Writing these reflections over the past fifteen years has helped me to learn and grow in faith. Sometimes it has also chastened me by reminding me of the constant need to practice what we have learned as we live out our faith journey together. I am grateful for feedback and encouragement from my fellow travelers.
