Day 27, Monday, 15 March Words of Consolation

 

RETREAT IN LENT 2021

Day 27, Monday, 15 March

Words of Consolation

The fourth Sunday of Lent and the whole fourth week is marked by consolation. There are joyful messages which give us a glimpse of the future triumph of good over evil; all the struggles that people endure everywhere on the planet have a meaning and bear within them the promise of overcoming evil. The seeds of joy are already sown. But we have to rise to them.

Yesterday, in New York, the funeral Mass for Sr Janice McLaughlin was streamed and there was a moment when the sister speaking about her, told of an event that had never been mentioned by Janice in her lifetime. She wanted it known only after she died. She was in Chikurubi prison near Harare in Zimbabwe after her arrest in the liberation war and lying awake one night crying in misery because of her foolishness in leaving her diary with evidence of her contacts with the guerrillas on her chair. The police had no problem in finding it and following up information it gave of others in the Justice and Peace Commission which led to their arrest. How could she be so stupid she asked herself in misery. Then, in her agony, a soft yellow light appeared in the cell which came closer and became brighter and she heard a voice, not out loud but in her heart, saying, ‘Yes, you are a stupid silly girl, but I love you’. She was filled with an immense peace which stayed with her for the rest of her life.

We read Isaiah 65:17-21 today, ‘I create new heavens and a new earth … be glad and rejoice for ever for what I am creating.’ These words do not cancel the Passion any more than the words Janice heard cancelled her later trials and sufferings. But they give great hope. And this makes all the difference. We struggle to overcome illness, faltering relationships, social and economic hardships. We may or may not succeed in the short term but hope tells us we will succeed one day. No doubt about it.

The reading from John 4:43-54 is about the court official (Matthew makes him a centurion, that is, a pagan) who believes the word of Jesus. He doesn’t insist Jesus comes to his house to cure his son. This too is hopeful news. The pagan world is stirring itself to trust  - even when there are no visible signs.