Rev. James A. Wallace, C.Ss.R.

Jan 29 2025

Going in the Right Direction

You rarely hear anyone use the word “hellbent” these days, but it could easily be used to describe the Jewish people before the Babylonian empire destroyed their capital city of Jerusalem in 587 B.C., along with the temple, and then sent its people into exile. Second Chronicles tells a sad story: Judah’s princes, priests, and people had all turned away from the Lord. They had become a people hell bent on self-destruction. So finally, the Lord cut them loose.

Of course, the story does not end there. A new dawn comes with the ascendan cy of the Persian empire under its leader Cyrus, who looked more kindly on the Jewish people, allowing them to return home to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. And we are reminded that the hand of a merciful God is behind this.

Ephesians also speaks of a God rich in mercy, who loved us “even when were dead in our transgressions,” and who “brought us to life with Christ . . . raised us up with him, and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:5–6, 10). For the author of Ephesians this has already happened. It might not feel that way to us much of the time, but faith calls us to see ourselves as “God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus.”

Imagine if we tried living out of that vision for the coming week! Imagine if we really took seriously that God truly loved the world so much that “he gave his only Son” to bring us all eternal life (see John 3:16)

Consider/Discuss

Do you recognize God as a God of unending mercy who loves us—all of us?
How can this Lent be a season of conversion for the whole community?

Responding to the Word

Merciful God, you sent your Son to bring us to the fullness of life, now and hereafter. May this season of Lent be a time when we recognize increasingly what it means to choose to live in the light of Christ. Give us the courage to do so each day.

Jan 29 2025

The Woman of Sychar

When I saw him coming, I was afraid. I had just dropped my bucket into the well and was pulling it up. What was a Jew doing here? Sychar was not a stopover for the Jews. It was in Samaritan territory. Jews hated Samaritans, and the feeling was returned. This went back centuries.

I could tell he was tired. It was almost noon and a scorching day. When he asked for a drink, I couldn’t refuse. Even so, I asked him, “How can you, a Jew and a man, ask me, a Samaritan and a woman, for a drink?” “You have the bucket,” he said, smiling.

As I was handing him a ladle of water, he said: “If you knew who was saying, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked me for one.” I just stared at this riddle maker. Then I pointed out the facts: I had the bucket and the well was deep. End of discussion.

But it wasn’t. He began to talk about water that satisfies thirst and water that doesn’t. And then he said, “Whoever drinks the water I give will never thirst. I will give them water that gushes up into eternal life.”

You know, I believed him. I can’t explain why. That’s not all he said that day. We talked about my life, his work, and a day when Jews and Samaritans would be able to worship together. That was really a dream, I told him. But it wasn’t. After his death—and resurrection—it came about. It turned out he was living water after all.

Consider/Discuss

What do you thirst for?
How is Jesus life-giving water for you?

Responding to the Word

Jesus, you are life-giving water that quenches our soul’s thirst. You continue to meet us during our days, speaking to us so we might know you and what you would do for us. Like the Samaritan woman, may we welcome you and speak to you from our hearts.

Jan 29 2025

Jesus as Action Hero

As a boy, I loved this Gospel story. Suddenly Jesus was a superhero. Watch out, Clark Kent! Gentle Jesus is now revealed as Super-J! Red with rage, one strong arm cracking that whip while the other overturns the tables. Sheep and oxen scattering, doves heading for the highest columns of the temple, coins spilling down the steps, some merchants cowering, others heading out the gate. Kapow! Kazaam!

Age has brought me a more refined understanding of this scene. Recorded in all four Gospels, John places it closer to the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, rather than during his last days. Some see it as the act of a prophet enraged at the commercialization of the house of the Lord; others as a sign of the coming of the messianic age when anything inappropriate to the true nature of the temple as a place for encountering God will be purged and purified.

For our reflection during Lent, we might take it as a wake-up call to all the compromises we have settled for in our lives that are unworthy of our being the temple of God’s Holy Spirit, made so by baptism. In light of the first reading reminding us of God’s covenant with Israel at Mt. Sinai, we too are called to live lives that honor God as our only God and to live with all others in a just and loving manner. We do this when we proclaim Christ crucified in our own bodies by living for others.

Consider/Discuss

How do you react to this portrayal of Jesus cleansing the temple?
How do you relate this action to the final words today about Jesus not trusting himself to those who were beginning to believe in his name because he “understood human nature well”?

Responding to the Word

Lord Jesus, you call us to live as children of the Father, offering our very lives as a spiritual sacrifice. We do this when we replace our selfish desires with a will ingness to listen to the cries of the poor. Continue to shape us into your dwelling place in our world.

Jan 29 2025

Seeing in the Dark

Two of today’s readings take us up a mountain. Mountains are sacred places in the scriptures. Moses meets the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob on Mt. Sinai. Elijah has an experience of this same life-giving God on Mt. Horeb. Today Abraham goes up Mt. Moriah in obedience to God’s command to “take your son Isaac, your only one, whom you love” (Genesis 22:2) and offer him there as a holocaust.

It is hard to get past this reading today and focus only on the story of the Transfiguration. This story of God testing Abraham to see if Abraham will obey is a story of great anguish. “See” is an important word here: Moriah means “the place of seeing.” Abraham responds to Isaac’s question about a victim, saying God will provide, a word rooted in the Latin word for seeing. God will see to it that there is a victim, just as God will see that Abraham is obedient in all things.

Seeing also takes place on Mt. Tabor. Peter, James, and John see Jesus in glory, his clothes dazzlingly white; they see him speaking with Moses and Elijah, representing the law and the prophets; and they see a cloud overshadowing them, and hear a voice calling for their obedience: “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him” (Mark 9:7).

With them, we are invited to see Jesus as the beloved Son whom the Father “did not spare . . . but handed over for us all,” as Paul reminds us (Romans 8:32). The mystery of the Cross and Resurrection is an invitation to see God’s love for all God’s beloved children and trust in it.

Consider/Discuss

How is there continuity between the God described in Genesis and God in today’s Gospel?
Have you had any glimpse of the glory that awaits those faithful to God?

Responding to the Word

God of Abraham and Sarah, of Isaac and Rebekah, of Jacob and Rachel, God and Father of our Lord, give us a glimpse of the glory that you have prepared for all who trust in you and remain faithful to you. Strengthen us to walk through any darkness that may threaten our ability to believe.

Jan 29 2025

Lent and Beginning Anew

A snapshot differs from a TV show or movie, which moves along, demanding that we keep up with the storyline. A snapshot allows us to focus on details, to take as much time as we want. Snapshots allow us to pause, ponder, and meditate. There is no need to rush on to what comes next.

Mark’s Gospel opens with a series of snapshots of Jesus, whom Mark proclaims from the start as “Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (1:1). First, he offers a picture of Jesus’ baptism when God’s voice proclaims, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased” (1:11). Then, the two pictures presented today: Jesus driven into the desert for forty days to be tested by Satan, and Jesus beginning a new ministry of preaching the gospel.

These snapshots begin the work of drawing us into the mystery of the one proclaimed as the Promised One long awaited, but even more, the one who is the Son of God. In him God’s reign comes to us.

Lent is a time for deciding where our loyalty lies in life. To whom or what do we give our allegiance? At the end of the forty days we renew our baptismal promises. We will be called to profess our faith in God who created us and our world out of love, in the Son who died for us and was raised to new life, and in the Spirit who now drives us to confront the power of evil in our world.

Consider/Discuss

How can this Lent be a time to begin anew? What concrete steps can you take to stop and ponder the shape of your life?
How does identifying yourself as being a beloved son or daughter of God influence your daily decisions?

Responding to the Word

Loving God, you have spoken to us at our baptism, calling us beloved children, sending your Spirit upon us, making us heirs of the kingdom of God. Help us to be open to your Spirit this Lent and where it leads. Make us content to rest in stillness and hear your voice.