His Hour…and Ours

Wisdom 2:1a, 12-22; John 7:1-2, 10, 25-30

Even in the face of death threats, Jesus went to Jerusalem and the temple to join in the Feast of Booths (Tabernacles).  He entered quietly, but then he proceeded to teach in the temple and cried out in defiance of those who opposed him.

It doesn’t seem like the smartest strategy to continue one’s mission.  But nothing happens to Jesus, John explains, “because his hour had not yet come.”  That “hour” was his passion.  The author of Wisdom describes such an experience in stark terms:  revilement, torture and condemnation to a shameful death.  Through his suffering, death and resurrection Jesus would complete his mission and provide the definitive sign that he was indeed the Son of God.

Jesus’ hour was unique.  It never happened before and it will never be repeated.  But it is also a model for us.  Individually and sometimes collectively, we experience the Paschal Mystery—suffering and death…then resurrection and new life.  We’re in such an hour now, and in many different ways:  sickness, unemployment, family conflicts, mounting bills, and in thousands of cases, death.

We pray that through the grace of God, the work we do and what we are willing to learn, that our experience of the Paschal Mystery will also be redemptive. –jc