Friday of the Second Week of Lent

GN 37:3-4, 12-13A, 17B-28A/MT 21:33-43, 45-46

We live in a noisy world that has many voices. Amidst the noise, are we listening to the right people? Are we being the voices that carry the message of truth, love and justice?  

These questions surfaced for me after hearing today’s readings. 

I noticed that there is a strong parallel between the stories of Joseph and Jesus in today's readings. In both stories, the words quoted from Psalm 118 apply: "It was the stone rejected by the builders that became the cornerstone." In the case of Joseph, his own brothers rejected him.  For Jesus, his people rejected him. Both of these men were men of dreams with a vision of a better life.  A vision rejected by the people closest to them.   

Again and again this has happened throughout world history.  Fighters for truth and justice have been rejected, jailed, and tortured; but eventually found themselves the liberators of their people. Think about Nelson Mandela in South Africa, Martin Luther King Jr. in the USA, and Gandhi in India.   

Brothers and sisters, let us take today as a day to tune-up our receivers so we can listen to the message of truth, love, and justice. Then let us become transmitters of this voice, knowing that we might be rejected.   

 

Sarah Chamseddine
Program Manager, Office for Spirituality