Gospel Meditation

March 20, 2021

Love Never Fails

March 21, 2021
5th Sunday of Lent

Any good teacher or parent will tell you that once a lesson is really learned it doesn’t need to be taught again. When we internalize things we have learned, they become a part of who we are and influence how we perceive and interact with our world. The same is true for the law God has written upon our hearts. Once humanity learns this lesson, we will simply know it to be true and act accordingly.  Sometimes, it is hard to get people to learn the lessons they need to learn. They are often distracted, disinterested, conflicted, misdirected, or just too stubborn and unable or unwilling to see what is right before their eyes. Understanding that God is in a loving and committed relationship with those fashioned and formed in God’s own image, seems like such a simple lesson to learn. But history and experience has proven that it is not.

We struggle with faith, especially when that faith asks us to learn something very particular about ourselves. We must, like a grain of wheat, fall to the ground and die. Because God’s DNA is at the very core of who we are, there are specific pearls of wisdom that must be acquired before we can live a full life. One very powerful lesson is that it is not the task of the world to tell us who we are and what has meaning, but God. For many, death is not an opportunity for greater life but a permanent ending to the life they have known. Jesus knew every dimension to what it means to be fully human because he was! He knows the joys, limitations, sorrows, frustrations, wonders, suffering, opportunities, and joys of the human experience. Jesus can teach us a wealth of knowledge and life’s lessons from his example, especially obedience.

When we accept the law God has placed in our hearts and gain wisdom from it, then when we suffer we learn to listen more attentively to the Voice behind that law. We naturally flee to our Creator for inspiration, consolation, hope, direction, and comfort as we navigate through this time of darkness. We will not need to run from it, subdue it, fight it, or be overcome by it because we will know, having internalized this profound lesson before, that God will bring new life. God’s law is love and love never fails. Even in the moments of Jesus’ deepest despair, he glorified the name of his Father. What he learned allowed him to put everything in perspective and be obedient to the tender, loving Voice that echoed within. As Lent quickly winds down, may we learn the same! Then, may we gain the fortitude and wisdom to help others see what is right before their eyes.

©LPi

MEDITACIÓN EVANGÉLICO (Gospel Meditation)

Love Never Fails Spanish

21 de marzo de 2021
5º Domingo de la Cuaresma

Jesús dijo: “Desátenlo y déjenlo caminar” (Juan 11:44). Ya estamos al umbral de la Pasión del Señor. A lo largo de la Cuaresma, hemos escuchado el amor de Dios por nosotros en cada mensaje del Evangelio. Desde las tentaciones de Jesús en el desierto, la transfiguración, la samaritana, el ciego de nacimiento, y hoy, la liturgia que nos sitúa en la resurrección de Lázaro, el Evangelio es de amor y vida. De estar atado de pies y manos, ha desatado, caminando libremente. Hoy el Señor nos desata de nuestros pecados, si lo deseamos. La promesa del Padre sigue viva en su Hijo Amado. Jesús lo afirma con sus palabras: Yo soy la resurrección y la vida. El que cree en mí, aunque muera, vivirá. El que vive, el que cree en mí, no morirá para siempre” (Juan 11:25-26).

Con Lázaro resucitado, Jesús anuncia su resurrección. Quien entendió bien el mensaje fue Marta, con su respuesta dada a la pregunta de Jesús: “Sí, Señor; yo creo que tú eres el Cristo, el Hijo de Dios, el que tenía que venir al mundo” (Juan 11:27). El Santo Padre, dijo que el Señor “Nos invita, casi nos ordena, que salgamos de la tumba en la cual nuestros pecados nos han hundido. Nos llama insistentemente a salir de la oscuridad de la prisión en la que estamos encerrados, conformándonos con una vida falsa, egoísta, mediocre. ‘Salí afuera!’, nos dice. ‘¡Salí afuera!’”. (Radio Vaticana 6 de abril 2014). El reto es salir sin miedo, confiando en la providencia de Dios, y en todo lo que se pueda hacer por desatar los nudos de la vida de los unos y los otros.

©LPi