Saturday of the Fourth Week of Lent
The Gospel of the day begins by recounting various reactions within the crowd concerning Jesus. Have things changed much? Some registered negative opinions because where he was supposed to have been born. These reactions were not personal. They were “scientific”. The Gospels tell us elsewhere that he a close relationship with children, not burned by external opinions. They knew him. They loved him. Sound familiar today? In all of these circumstances, Jesus remained silent.
The class of his greatest enemies was the Pharisees. And here there was one, Nicodemus, who had spent years looking for God. Was it this experience that made him honest, devoid of the prejudices that characterize his followers? How would he fit as a tenured member of a university today or as typical politician?
Nicodemus is a model for today for those who search in their lives and careers with honesty for finding the hidden God. I feel certain that many prayers were offered by Nicodemus after the Resurrection. Can we doubt that they were unanswered?
Resolve: The statues and crosses are covered tonight in preparation for Holy Week and therefore I shall pray that all readers of Magis will have a blessed Holy Week and Easter. It is also the vigil of a special preparation for baptism of the catechumens and these we should all keep in our prayers. Finally, tomorrow is St. Patrick’s Day and I shall ask the Lord to give all bishops in our country the same charisms he so generously bestowed on St. Patrick, to unite them with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and to all of good will in our country.