Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent

Lectionary: 255



I hear the whisperings of many:
"Terror on every side!
Denounce! let us denounce him!"

As we approach Palm Sunday and Holy Week, I should remind my readers that we encounter Jesus Christ on every page of the Old and New Testaments. We can expect to meet the Word made Flesh whenever we hear the scriptures proclaimed. 

Several years ago, as the American bishops discussed a new translation of the Bible for use in our liturgies, many were inclined to use "inclusive language." References to "man" when the word means the human race were deemed offensive. The sorrowful, lamenting victim of the psalms may well be a woman.

But they hesitated to make that change when the scholars of tradition reminded them that, from ancient times, exegetes have read the suffering psalmist as the Christ. This is most apparent in the Passion narratives. Saint Matthew alludes to Psalm 69:22 when he says they offered the Crucified Lord vinegar to drink. The crowd on Calvary mocks the One who suffers reproach, shame and disgrace. Whether these things actually happened is irrelevant, the inspired reader recognizes the scripture is fulfilled by his suffering and death. 

The Prophet Jeremiah is the most Christlike of all the prophets and we recognize the Lord's suffering, his hope and vindication in today's first reading. 

But the LORD is with me, like a mighty champion:my persecutors will stumble, they will not triumph.In their failure they will be put to utter shame,to lasting, unforgettable confusion.

With our attention refocused on Jesus by "the Law of Moses, the prophets and the psalms"  we can recognize that his suffering is that of every human being of every race, and every person's suffering is his. There is in the Risen Lord neither male nor female, Jew or gentile, slave or free. 
An inadequate appreciation of scripture might "translate" all of the difficult passages out, rendering the Bible more suitable for children. A purge of "paternalistic language" would stop too soon if it did not remove also the passages deemed sexist, racist and warlike. Who has not cringed at the God's war cry, "BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD?" 
But mistranslations serve no good end. We do better to study our scriptures and our tradition with a deep appreciation for the many diverse cultures that produced, selected, and translated the Bible through the centuries, and the faithful Church which has given us this treasure.