April 1, 2022
We are getting closer to Holy Week, and the readings today reflect a feeling of foreboding. The excerpt from Wisdom warns that those who live just and righteous lives will be hated—considered obnoxious by those with guilty consciences. Ultimately, some will seek to destroy those who seek to live justly. Maybe not to kill, but to slander, malign, and try to ruin their reputations. Jesus is traveling incognito today in John’s Gospel because he has received death threats. What is the lesson here for us? It is not a cheery thought that if we adhere to the teachings of Jesus we will be hated. That fear may cause us not to speak out when our voice is needed. But let us turn to the Psalm for an answer to our fears: The psalmist assures us that the Lord confronts evildoers to destroy remembrance of them from the earth, while watching over the just one. We are not promised that we will not suffer, because we will. What we are promised is that we will be redeemed, vindicated, and delivered. Face it, we are not getting out of this world alive, so we might as well live a good life, take our licks, and die knowing we did our best.