Lent, Day Forty, Passion Sunday

Lent, Day Forty, Passion Sunday
We spend a lot of energy wondering who can be blamed for our own or other people's tragedies--our parents, ourselves, the immigrants, the Jews, the gays, the blacks, the fundamentalists, the Catholics, ...
But Jesus doesn't allow us to solve our own or other people's problems through blame. The challenge he poses is to discern in the midst of our darkness the light of God. In Jesus' vision everything, even the greatest tragedy, can become an occasion in which God's works can be revealed.
How radically new my life would be if I were willing to move beyond blaming to proclaiming the works of God... All humans beings have their tragedies... We seldom have much control over them. But do we choose to live them as occasions to blame, or as occasions to see God at work?

Henri J.M. Nouwen
The Sabbatical Journey, pg 80

Scripture:
As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. ² His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
³ “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. ⁴ As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. ⁵ While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
John 9:1-5

PRAYER
My God and my refuge, strip away my habit of blaming either others or myself-for any big or little tragedies in my life. Challenge me to move beyond the "blame game" and to understand that these misfortunes and setbacks are not under my control. Teach me instead to live through these events and see them as fruitful opportunities for faith and love. Amen.

LENTEN ACTION
Review past episodes of your life when you were determined to blame others for destructive events. Did you finally acknowledge that blaming is a way to avoid seeing God's hand at work in your life? Are you still relying on blame as a "way out" today? If so, in what way?Are there community "scapegoats" who are blamed for disastrous occurrences? How can those whom we set up as scapegoats be exonerated? You may also want to observe the tradition of eating figs on Palm Sunday and decorating your home with pussy willows. Or you may wish to select and address Easter cards.

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The Donkey

By G. K. Chesterton

When fishes flew and forests walked   

   And figs grew upon thorn,   

Some moment when the moon was blood   

   Then surely I was born.

With monstrous head and sickening cry

   And ears like errant wings,   

The devil’s walking parody   

   On all four-footed things.

The tattered outlaw of the earth,

   Of ancient crooked will;

Starve, scourge, deride me: I am dumb,   

   I keep my secret still.

Fools! For I also had my hour;

   One far fierce hour and sweet:   

There was a shout about my ears,

   And palms before my feet.