As we move towards Holy Week in this Lenten season, the tone of our readings is gradually changing. There is increasing opposition or resistance to Christ. There is opposition to who Christ was, and opposition to his mission.
Today in our gospel we hear that “the Jews picked up rocks to stone Jesus” and his response to their action was that “I have shown you many good works from my Father. For which of these are you trying to stone me?” He had healed the sick, made the blind see, raised the dead, made the lame walk, and here he was being harassed and almost being killed.
The Rocks we Carry
I would like to invite us to focus on the gospel and briefly reflect on what it means to “throw rocks” at Jesus. The “rocks” that the Jews picked to throw at Jesus are symbols of opposition or resistance, or metaphors of hostility towards Christ. The “rocks” are symbols of vice or sin in human life. They stand for all that is antithetical to Christ or anything that goes against virtue.
Let us imagine each one of us as carrying our own “rocks” just like the Jews, all directed towards Jesus. Some of the rocks are small, others are huge. There are some who carry two rocks, and others who carry ten rocks, or fifty rocks. Sin or vice are the metaphorical rocks that each one of us carries in some form or other.
Being Unburdened
As we enter Holy Week and come close to the end of this year’s Lenten season, what kinds of “rocks” or sins do I need to let go of or throw away? What vices, weaknesses, or sins, do I need to bring to the sacrament of reconciliation and ask the Lord to unburden me? We all have somewhere a rock or rocks directed at Jesus, and the Lord says to us “For all the good things I have done for you in your life, and for all the good things I have done for you in your family, for which of these are you trying to stone me?”
“Rocks” have weight, they burden us, weigh us down; and they preoccupy or busy our hands so that our hands are not available to use in service of others. Rocks busy our hands so that they are no longer available to hold hands and offer comfort and solidarity to those who need it in our broken world. “Rocks” do not only affect our relationship with Christ, but they also affect our relationship with others in community.
Reconciliation
May we in this Mass ask the Lord to offer us insight into what sins or vices we carry in our hearts. This Friday evening, at our “Mercy Night” at the St Joseph Center, we have an opportunity to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and to throw away any of “rocks” we have and reconcile with Christ. You are invited to this evening’s “Mercy Night.”
May God’s grace give us the courage we need to reconcile with the Lord through prayer and the Sacrament of Penance.
- Today’s Readings
- Father Fred's inspirational homily was recorded live during Mass at the Father Peyton Center today. You can watch the entire Mass on the Family Rosary Video streams channel on YouTube.
- Join the Rosary (11:30 am ET) and Mass (Noon ET) livestreams on the Family Rosary YouTube or Facebook page, Monday – Friday. Invite your friends and family to pray with you as well.
