ASSINIBOIA - In this Lenten season, the world is an uncertain place. In the gospel reading for the second Sunday in Lent, Luke 13:31-35, Jesus is crying over Jerusalem as a hen over her chicks.
Many of us are crying over the things that are happening around us – for some it is the immediate problems of everyday life such as rising prices for gas and groceries, the shortage and expensive cost of housing, or the icy roads and winter weather of the past few weeks.
For others, there are global concerns – natural disasters such as the flooding in Australia; famine in parts of Africa; and especially the war in Ukraine and the increasing numbers of refugees fleeing the destruction in their homeland. It has become more and more evident that we cannot ignore events being reported in the news even though they occur half a world away.
There is the proof that we are all interconnected, all part of God’s creation. 1 Corinthians 12:26-27 tells us “If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.”
How much would Jesus be crying over the destruction and unrest in our world today? How many tears would he cry over our actions or inactions in the face of these challenges? It is easy to sit back and ask, “What can I do about all of this?” It is too easy to rest in the comfort of the familiar – the people we know who share our culture, our language and customs.
As Christians we are called to follow Jesus – a man who didn’t sit back; who paid no attention to “the way things have always been done”; a man of action who healed the sick, cleared the vendors from the temple, who welcomed children, women and foreigners to his side. In these troubled times sitting back is no longer an option – it is up to us to find ways to help those in need - wherever they may be, in whatever way we can.
We cannot afford to sit in our worldly comfort at the cost of a more just and fairer world, a world of peace, for all. It it not enough to cry, Christ calls us to action.
