Daily Reflection for Thursday, April 7, 2022
Peace and Blessings, Friends and Parishioners,
We encourage you to reflect on Thursday's readings at this link:
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/040722.cfm
If you prefer to use your own Bible, the readings are:
First Reading: Genesis 17:3-9
Responsorial: Psalm 105:4-5, 6-7, 8-9
Gospel: John 8:51-59
Our reflection on Thursday’s readings:
Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever keeps my word will never see death.
John 8:51
Today’s first reading gives us insight to God’s covenant with Abraham. It describes how the covenant promises abundance in life for Abraham and his descendants. After hearing about the promise of the covenant, I can see how many people during Jesus’ time were imagining and expecting a Messiah that looked like royalty and that would fight to protect his people.
Then I fast forward to the Gospel reading. I read about how the Jewish people were ready to throw stones at Jesus. Jesus hides and leaves, escaping the violence. He was being cornered with accusatory questions about His identity. No answer was going to relieve the anger and emotions that were stirring up His adversaries. They were ready to turn to violence to hurt Jesus—perhaps to shut Him up or to scare Him from continuously spreading the Good News in word and deed.
I fast forward to today—killings in Sacramento, unimaginable atrocities in Ukraine, continual struggles in Myanmar after the violent coup, a young boy in northeast Philadelphia was shot and killed in his front yard as he was helping his dad bring in the groceries. My heart is heavy. The violence is real. Stones are picked up daily.
I want so much to end this reflection with a happy ending. I want to write that closing paragraph that makes sense of the violence: that good will prevail over suffering and that violence will cease. I want to write words of consolation. But I can’t. My fingers stop typing and the words do not come.
So I go back to the readings and I find Jesus saying to me: Amen, amen I say to you, whoever keeps my word will never see death. My heart and spirit rest on these words. They bring me hope. God is all-merciful and we are all God’s children. These words and thoughts bring me the consolation I seek.
May you remain in hope in the resurrection,
Margarita Solis Deal