Dear Friends,
From time immemorial, people have asked questions for clarity, insight, understanding. Others have asked questions to entrap and destroy their target.
Here’s the emperor’s coin, Jesus. Are you pro-God or pro-Caesar?
Here’s a woman caught in idolatry, Jesus. Do you support the law or do you favor leniency for criminals?
Here’s a man who is unclean, Jesus. Do you uphold what the law says about the unclean or not?
The questions the Pharisees posed were traps to discredit Jesus to his hearers.” The Pharisees plotted how they might trap him…and Jesus knew the malice in their hearts.”
If we could quiz Jesus in the here and now about the issues of our day, our own questions would also be endless.
Jesus, are you pro-choice or pro-life?
Liberal or conservative?
Which is more important: jobs or the environment?
Jesus, tell us where you stand on gun control, nuclear weapons, AI, capital punishment, LGBTQ, banned books in schools.
What helpful questions can we ask about the way forward between Hamas and the Israeli? Is mutual brutality, violence that is over the top, the only solution?
As believers, we don’t seek to trap or embarrass Jesus. We seek clarity, light, a better understanding of God’s vision and direction for our world. But as believers, we need to work through these questions in a God-context, using the Gospel vision to illuminate our way as we try to make sense of thorny issues.
Society is quite eager to provide answers to our questions: supermarket tabloids, talk show hosts, co-workers, influencers in every field imaginable, kids in school bathrooms, warmongers.
A framework for approaching our contemporary questions can help us in our questioning, no matter our age or place in life:
First of all, as we discern how to think, what to decide to do or not do, we need to be confident that God is with us, in us, surrounds us. We are a people who are graced by God’s presence and love. In the first reading from Isaiah today, God says to us: “It is I who arm you, though you know me not.” The grace of God is present to us in each situation of our life, not as an imposition, a demand, but a tender companionship that shows us the way. God is for everyone holding life together in Gaza.
Secondly, Jesus never sends His followers out alone. Attempting to deal with today’s complex issues by ourselves makes no more sense than trying to be our own physician. It is in the believing community that we can seek wisdom and talk to others in Gospel terms. In community, we can, with more confidence, discover how to approach our questions with Christ’s vision and not just our own. The nourishment we receive at the Eucharistic table, in the Eucharistic community, enlightens not just our minds, but our hearts, our whole being.
Finally, let’s be alert for the concrete situations in which the Gospel takes flesh in people and see how they approach or resolve the pressing issues of our day. See how the Gospel vision takes the form of food for the hungry or bricks and concrete or lessons in hope, compassion and mercy.
This is how Jesus might respond to the questions we might pose today:
“I can’t prepare you for every choice you’ll need to make or every situation you will encounter, but my grace will be with you. Others who are likewise graced will help you to understand more clearly. Don’t be afraid to learn from one another. Seek life and you will find it. Ask questions and be ready for new and revealing responses.”
~ Sister Joan Sobala
