April 5

April 5, 2014:  Saturday, 4th week of Lent

Readings

• Jer 11:18-20  Lord, you showed me their doings; I hadn't realized they were plotting against me.  I trusted you; let me see your vengeance.

• Ps 7:2-3, 9bc-12  "O Lord, my God, in you I take refuge." I'm innocent; save me. God is just; he saves the upright.

Pharisees/ Schmidt-Rottluff

• Jn 7:40-53  Some heard Jesus and said, “He is the Prophet,” “He is the Christ,” or “The Christ won't come from Galilee; Scripture says he'll come from Bethlehem.”  A division arose.  Pharisees / guards: “Why didn't you bring him?” / “No one has spoken like him.” / “Have you been deceived? Have the authorities believed in him?”  Nicodemus / Pharisees: “Does our law condemn a man before we find out what he's doing?” / “Prophets don't come from Galilee.”

Pope Francis

• TV interview with Belgian youth (part 1):
  Are you happy?  Absolutely:  it's a tranquil happiness with deep interior peace, different from a youth's.  Problems don't take it away; it sees and tries to resolve them, then goes on.  It's a grace from God.
  
  Why your great love for the poor?  It's the heart of the Gospel:  the poor are at the center of Jesus’ message
  
  What's your message for young people?  All—of any religion or nonbelievers—are brothers and sisters. People are at the center; they've been pushed to the margins, but we must work on behalf of them, the image of God.  We're part of a throwaway culture where children, young people, and the elderly are unwanted or discarded, but there's hope.  

Reflections

• Creighton:  Jesus reveals a God often only heard by the poor, sinners, and the ignorant.  Jesus wasn't the avenging Messiah the Pharisees expected but rather a God who loves and offers salvation to all.  We need to experience our poverty, sinfulness, and ignorance to be free of misconceptions and accept God’s mercy and salvation.  Strip yourself of preconceptions and be open to God.

• Passionist:  There's head, heart, and gut (intuitive) knowledge:  the crowds used their hearts, the Pharisees use their heads, and Nicodemus used his gut.  We need all three to discern and judge justly.

• Moved to greater love Jesuit reflection on freedom to see things differently and act accordingly:  What in my day have I judged to be wrong?  Someone or some idea I've written off?  Am I willing to look for God there?  +4 songs, 13 Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, quotes from Teilhard de Chardin and Underhill, Little Light art.

• Universalis:  St. Vincent Ferrer, Dominican priest

• Sacred Space

Apparel

• "Lamb" tie bar:  "like a trusting lamb led to slaughter" (1st reading)

• "Tree" pin:  "let's destroy the tree in its vigor" (1st reading)

• "Hearts" suspenders:  God searches hearts (1st reading)

• "Lion" pin:  "Save me lest I become like the lion's prey" (psalm)

• "Shield" pin:  "God is a shield before me" (psalm)

• "Abacus" tie pin: a 'division' arose because of Jesus (gospel) [see instructions for how to divide on an abacus]

• "Hands" tie:  "no one laid hands on him" (gospel)

• Purple shirt:  Lenten season

Dress your life!