Today’s old testament reading for the fourth Friday of Lent, will also be read again on Good Friday. The readings for mass today are an indication of things to come. Is it possible we are approaching Good Friday in two weeks? We are two thirds of the way through Lent already. Where has the time gone?
It’s hard to begin to even think about the passion and death of Jesus Christ. Just thinking about his death puts a damper on things. When you read through the first reading for mass, it makes you realize just how deeply Jesus was mocked, criticized, belittled, made fun of and verbally abused. Sure, he was the son of God, but Jesus was also very much a human being with feelings the same as you and I. Surely we can all relate to the emotions Jesus must have felt during this time period in his life. He was just as human as the rest of us.
Today’s first reading from the book of Wisdom is also a lot like the book of Job. Job was harassed, made fun of, mocked, belittled, criticized and verbally abused too. God allowed it though. It might be worth stopping for a moment to think about that. God allowed Job to be mistreated, and He also allowed his own son to be abused and mistreated as well. Why do we think we are any different?
Everyone wants other people to think well of them. Even if you are a humble person, your feelings may still be hurt sometimes. It is easy for other people to view us from the outside looking in, but the lens they view our actions through does not always have the right focus. What a relief it is to be around people who do not judge us, and accept us for who we really are, with all of our flaws and imperfections. This is a gift. What a gift it is, not to be judged. We should remember what it feels like to be accepted, included and respected. This is the way other people need to be treated as well.
The gospel reading today is sad. How would you feel if you heard everyone around you, gossiping about you? Jesus knew what they were saying about him. The gospel said he was teaching in the temple area, so there must have been a lot of people who were whispering to each other about who he was and what they had heard about him.
What really bothered the Lord was that the people disregarded him, because they knew where he was from. The Jewish people thought that when the Christ came, no one would know where he was from. How skewed could their thinking be? The Christ would’ve had to be born somewhere! It seems that Jesus was just a little too familiar to them, to really be the Christ. This is just human nature. Sometimes the children in school who were not very popular, nice looking, smart, or talented grow up and excel in something that no one ever dreamed they would. Albert Einstein is a perfect example of this.
We can take comfort from the readings for mass today, whenever we feel like others have turned against us. Sometimes it is justified that others disapprove of us, but sometimes it’s not. We may not be the one who has misguided thinking or has done something wrong. Just because other people outnumber us, that does not make their thinking or their judgements correct. The truth isn’t found in numbers or popular opinion.
The next time our motives are questioned or we are misjudged, we should remember today’s readings for mass. Jesus was misjudged, criticized, belittled, abused and mistreated and he didn’t deserve it. Maybe we don’t either. The same is true about how we ourselves treat others too though. People do deserve the benefit of a doubt. Only God has all the facts of our lives. Only God knew the whole story with His son as well. In everything and through all the circumstances of our lives, Jesus leads the way to our Father.
Daily Mass Readings:
Wisdom 2: 1a, 12-22 / Psalm 34: 17-18, 19-20, 21, 23 / John 7: 1-2, 10, 25-30
