Wednesday
of the 2nd Week of Lent
March 4, 2015 6:30am
There are two sentences that get
my attention in today’s gospel.
First, Jesus asks the disciples: “Can you drink of the chalice that I am
going to drink?”
Here he is not talking about the
Eucharist.
Instead, the expression – “Can you drink from the chalice…?” this
is a colloquial expression of Jesus’ day that means, “Can you embrace the suffering that I am going embrace?”
This suffering can mean sickness
and disease.
It can mean failure.
It can mean putting up with
inconvenience or even put-downs for living the way of Jesus, for living the
gospel.
It can be the suffering that
comes from being other-centered and not self-centered.
And then the other sentence that
gets my attention is, “We are going up to
Jerusalem.”
Jesus does not say “I” but “we.”
And Jerusalem will be the place
of his suffering.
He will be made to suffer for
doing the mission the Father gave him to do.
But it is not just Jesus.
It is “we” – all of us who seek to follow him.
Suffering will be involved for
each one of us.
So, a good gospel for our Lenten
reflection this morning.
