Monday of the Third Week of Lent

Athirst is my soul for the living God. When shall I go and behold the face of God?


During this third week of Lent, our readings describe the growing tension that will lead to Jesus’ crucifixion. It is ironic that the trouble begins in his hometown of Nazareth, in the familiar territory of Galilee. It is ironic and yet appropriate.

Jesus will not be executed by strangers. His crucifixion is not a random act of violence but a very deliberate murder with its origins among his neighbors, family and friends. We can pretend to be shocked if we like, but we’re all too familiar with domestic violence. The random acts of violence that suffocate our public life begin in the bedrooms, kitchens and dens of our own homes. Husbands beat their wives; and – it’s not as rare as you might think – wives beat their husbands. Divorce was supposed to deliver women from violent marriages but it has only created more violence between unmarried couples. Children suffer beatings, rape and murder at the hands of their parents, uncles and aunts; vulnerable adults – the elderly, the disabled, and the developmentally handicapped – suffer violence in the homes of their children. Brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles are all combatants in this internecine warfare. In these United States, emergency rooms are required by law to report suspicious cuts, bruises and broken bones to law enforcement. That’s standard procedure.

There is also the undercurrent of emotional abuse. Broken arms mend and bruises heal but how does a child recover from being told she is ugly, stupid, worthless, or evil? Survivors say it’s worse than physical abuse. To compensate for their insane behavior, some parents run hot and cold. One day they tell their children they are horrible and shouldn’t be allowed to live; later they tell them how good, sweet, and adorable they are. These conflicting messages do not blend into an integrated whole but create an anxious suspicion which may never be reassured.

With every marriage and every baptism we hope we’ll get it right this time. Surely God’s mercies are renewed each morning. But new beginnings and good intentions are not enough. Nor will education – the preferred panacea for every national ill – change our fallen nature.

And so we follow Jesus from hostile Nazareth to savage Jerusalem. We do not know what we will see there. We cannot conceive the fear we will experience, nor can we imagine what might follow. We know only that he is our last hope.

[photograph -- a crucifix in the student chapel at Saint Meinrad Abbey]