Today’s psalm response goes: “Lord, my God, I take shelter in you.” Somewhere along life’s journey, each of us experiences moments when we realize the truth of that psalm response so vividly. Perhaps it is at a time of family crisis, or some period of challenge at school or at work. Maybe it’s simply that the pieces aren’t fitting together in my own personal situation, and I don’t know where else to turn.
These weeks of Lent remind us that Jesus always comes to us with outstretched arms….no matter the situation, whatever the need. As the temple guards say to the chief priests in today’s gospel: “No man ever spoke like this before.” As we draw closer to Holy Week, just how is it that Jesus is reaching out to me? What words within my heart, which deeper desires is Jesus percolating within my heart? And do I have the courage to reach back….to walk the way of the cross this Holy Week 2017, to welcome Jesus into my heart?
—The Jesuit prayer team