• Login
    View Item 
    •   CDR Home
    • Mission and Ministry
    • Daily Reflections Archive
    • View Item
    •   CDR Home
    • Mission and Ministry
    • Daily Reflections Archive
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Reflection for Saturday, March 28, 2020: 4th week in Lent.

    View/Open
    032820.html (8.291Kb)
    Author
    Whitney, Tamora
    Date
    2020-03-28
    Office/Affiliation
    English Department

    Reading 1
    Jeremiah 11:18-20

    Psalm
    Psalms 7:2-3, 9bc-10, 11-12

    Gospel
    John 7:40-53

    Lectionary Number
    249. Year II, Lent.

    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Browse: Previous Reflection * Next Reflection

    Reflection:

    To see the original html page, click the file link on the left.

    Today's readings are both about recognizing God and responding appropriately to God. In the preceding passages in Jeremiah, God tells Jeremiah to remind the people that they have ignored God's covenant and rules. They ignore God and they ignore God's messenger and worship false gods. In today's reading they want to eliminate Jeremiah who was reminder to them of their evil ways. But God "who judgest righteously, who triest the heart and the mind" punishes the evil doers. In John's gospel there is debate over whether Jesus is the Christ. The concern is in the letter of the prophecy. The prophecy said that the Christ was to come from Bethlehem, but the Pharisees thought Jesus was from Galilee-so he couldn't be the Christ. He didn't fulfill the criterion. But of course he did. Jeremiah also dealt with the letter of the law. The Lord God had said in verse 4, "Obey my voice and to them, according to all which I command you; so shall ye be my people, and I will be your God." And God fulfilled his part of the bargain, but the people burned incense to Baal. The people in Jeremiah reverted to old gods and old ways. They had God's covenant, but they didn't fulfill their end of the deal. The Pharisees couldn't recognize God when he was among because they were too caught up in details and didn't know the whole story. In both cases God was in their midst and the people could have had the benefits of God, but they chose not to obey God and didn't recognize the whole situation.

    How many times do we react to things without understanding the whole situation? Would the Pharisees have believed in Jesus if they'd realized he was born in Bethlehem? Or should his words have been enough, should faith have been enough? Two weeks ago in the Sunday gospel Jesus told the Samaritan woman that He was the Christ, and she believed him. And without questioning his birthplace. We don't know the big picture. We don't know all the details, or what God has in store for us. Sometimes we react without realizing what God knows, what is truly for the best. And often like the Pharisees we don't recognize God when He is in our midst, and we don't have faith enough. Doesn't God tell us every day that ultimately, everything will be all right? And don't we everyday not have faith and disbelieve that.

    I've taken to keeping a gratitude journal. Every day I find something to thank God for. Every day I remind myself that I find God in my midst. And every day when I am tempted to react to a perceived negative situation, I remind myself that I do not know the big picture. I remind myself that God is around us all the time and made a covenant to take care of those who put their faith in him. He's keeping his end of the bargain. I have to try to keep mine.
    Link
    Go to the Daily Reflection web site

    Persistant link to this record
    http://hdl.handle.net/10504/126482
    Context
    View the Weekly Guide for Daily Prayer (Archived Version)

    Browse
    Previous Reflection * Next Reflection

    Collections
    • Daily Reflections Archive

    DSpace software copyright © 2002-2015  DuraSpace
    Contact Us | Send Feedback
    Theme by 
    @mire NV
     

     

    Browse

    All of the CDRCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjects

    My Account

    LoginRegister

    Statistics

    Most Popular ItemsStatistics by CountryMost Popular Authors

    DSpace software copyright © 2002-2015  DuraSpace
    Contact Us | Send Feedback
    Theme by 
    @mire NV