BEARING OUR TRIALS WITH FAITH


FRIDAY, FIFTH WEEK OF LENT   

Jer 20:10-13; Ps 18:2-7; Jn 10:31-42

The Son of Man Eluded Their Grasp

The omnipotence of God is such that he is always near to us and carries us, supporting us with his powerful providence. Sometimes the real presence of God is difficult to grasp, perceive, or comprehend. He seems so removed from our troubles and anxieties that we feel like giving up in our faith. None is a total foreigner to these moments of radical isolation from others and from God, our source of existence and being. In such moments when we search for meaning in life, we must hang on with faith in God, bearing in mind that God’s presence and love will be renewed at dawn. By dawn, we mean whenever God chooses to bring back his light to our darkness and re-establish his communion with us. The psalmist describes his own dark moment in the psalm. “The waves of death rose about me; the torrents of destruction assailed me; the snare of the grave entangled me; the traps of death confronted me.” This occasional confrontation with powers and traps of death is our lot here in this land of our exile. It is part of the package our first parents chose for us when they decided to go against God's word. Little streams of darkness coming from our own disobedience of God’s will also add to this stream of darkness and anguish that occasionally envelopes our souls.

No one living can escape this occasional visitation from death and its overwhelming powers. It takes various forms for different people. The prophet Jeremiah experienced such visits from forces of darkness and evil. In his melancholy, he said: “I hear so many disparaging me, “Terror from every side!” Denounce him! Let us denounce him!” Jeremiah’s experience stemmed from his close associates, who plotted his downfall and death. “All those who used to be my friends watched for my downfall. Perhaps he will be seduced into error. Then we will master him and take our revenge!” What did the prophet do to them that they desired revenge? He proclaimed the word of God to them; this infuriated them and made them desire his death. Though the experience of an upsurge of powers of death is common to every soul, the faithful souls are purified by the constant flooding of their souls from this river, within and without, through the grace of God coming from the anchorage of their lives on the word of God. Jeremiah expressed his faith and hope in God. “But the Lord is at my side, a mighty hero; my opponents will stumble, mastered, confounded by their failure; everlasting, unforgettable disgrace will be theirs.” His experience of God through his word, the prophet knew that God is always present, even when this is not given to our senses, but only to faith. The unbelievers, on the other hand, are made worse by their experience of these upsurges of forces of darkness and death; with their backs on God and his word, they lack any anchor, which causes them to be carried deeper into darkness and evil.        

Jeremiah showed that he is just a man, like any of us, conceived and raised in sin, as each of us. He prayed for the downfall and damnation of those who sought his life. “But you, O Lord of Hosts, you who probe with justice, who scrutinise the loins and heart, let me see the vengeance you will take on them, for I have committed my cause to you.” Every trial that comes to us is from God and for the purpose of probing the integrity of our faith, hope, and love for God and neighbour. Only in the Son of Man are these surges of rivers of darkness, death, and evil properly turned into sacrifices to God for the salvation of souls enslaved in evil. Thus, Jesus remained calm when they fetched stones to stone him. “‘I have done many good works for you to see, works from my Father; for which of these are you stoning me?’ The Jews answered him, ‘We are not stoning you for doing a good work but for blasphemy: you are only a man, and you claim to be God.’” The Son of Man remained calm because these upsurges of darkness, evil, and death are truly messengers proclaiming God’s presence with and within us; they transform us from sensible to faithful and spiritual children of God. They release the salvific power of God within and around us for the salvation of our souls and others. When besieged by these forces, we should live each minute or moment of the dark hours with faith in God and trust in his loving providence as the Son of Man did.

Let us pray: Pardon the offences of your peoples, we pray, O Lord, and in your goodness set us free from the bonds of the sins we have committed in our weakness. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.  

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