Wednesday 15 March 2017
Wed 15th. St Louise de Marillac. Jr 18:18-20; Mt 20:17-28.
In this special Lenten series – Darkness to light: An intimate journey with Jesus – our guest writer looks to the Gospel stories for answers to the questions that many of us ask when faced with difficult times.
‘We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man is about to be handed over to the chief priests and scribes. They will condemn him to death … and on the third day he will rise again.’Matthew 20:18
I feel terrible today. I have had more bad news about the health of my beloved, who doesn’t seem to feel so terrible at all, saying “At least I have an end in sight.” I have had a bad day at work. All I try to do seems like a failure. I can’t let go of this bad feeling. I just want to go away and hide. Jesus gives his disciples terrible news too. Imagine how they responded: “No Lord … never … not you … we shall look after you … let’s not go to Jerusalem.” When the news continues to get bad and then even worse, what else can I do but eventually give up? Yet Jesus does not give up. Not only that, in this moment of impending doom, he promises resurrection. I think of the great Russian Christian novelist, Boris Pasternak, on his death bed: when being consoled by one of his concerned and sympathetic friends, Pasternak replied with the greatest compassion and faith, “Do not worry about me. My future is immeasurably more important than my past.” Dear Lord, take me out of my darkness, fill me with the hope of resurrection. And if I must stay in darkness, let me know you are near.
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