March 26, 2023
We are called to be a people of the resurrection.
READINGS:
Ez 37:12-14, Ps 130:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8, Rom 8:8-11, Jn 11:1-45
Reflection:
Next weekend, we celebrate the exuberance of Palm Sunday… our Hosannas leading, in the end, to Jesus’ betrayal, his suffering, his crucifixion and his death.
But suffering and death does not have the final say with Christians. In the life of Jesus, as in our own life experience, we commit ourselves to the Resurrection!
Read ahead to the Palm Sunday passages: Two thousand years of human history have expressed countless Palm Sundays of confidence and exuberance, followed by tragic human failures, as one People climbed over the Other, to secure privilege, wealth, and power… their place in the sun, amid the violence, suffering, and natural catastrophe.
As followers of Jesus Christ, we are called to encounter the risen Christ according to the opportunities we have chosen… as we bring healing to our wounded world. To seek out and serve the poor, the oppressed, the suffering, the marginalized….
And to roll away the stone, and recognize and attend to a Beloved World that is facing death, and calling for us.
Prayer:
Lord, let us not delay in our response to the horrors experienced by our brothers and sisters who are suffering from earthquakes, illness, addiction, and violence. Let us hear the cry of the beloved earth, her oceans, streams, seas and forest creatures.
Action:
Roll away the stones that isolate women and men living in nursing homes, and in prisons, by visiting them.