TURN YOUR BLAME TO AIM
In the movie With Honors, I remember a line by Joe Pesci to an obviously unhappy house boarder: “You know why you hate me so much? Because I look the way you feel.” Sometimes I see the splinter in the eye of the other but I do not see the log in my eye. I have to be aware of my complaints to see the opportunities for positive change.
“Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in this desert, where there is no food or water? We are disgusted with this wretched food!” Isn’t it natural to complain about deprivation? Aren’t the Israelites justified in their complaint that because of the journey they took, they feel dislocated? Beyond our comfort zone, don’t we also complain?
What healed the Israelites? They looked at the bronze serpent and they were healed. Jesus has been telling the Jews, if they believe Him, they will discover that He is with the Father. The Father and Jesus are one. What can heal us? The Responsorial Psalm speaks to us of a possible beginning of healing in our lives. It says: “O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you. Hide not your face from me in the day of my distress. Incline your ear to me. The Lord looked down from his holy height, from heaven he beheld the earth, to hear the groaning of the prisoners, to release those doomed to die.” The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
Second, we look into our poisonous serpents, “our complaints.” We can blame all we want and end up not solving anything. Or we can turn our complaint or blame into “aim” or things that we can aspire for. In this case, the Israelites were invited to renew their faith in God who started the call and the journey anyway.
Third, Jesus reminds us that to believe is to see that just as He is in the hands of God, we believe we are in the hands of God. I remember Paul saying, “For the Jews the cross is a scandal and a stumbling block but the cross is also the wisdom of God, a means to return (salvation) to God.” Fr. Teodulo P. Gonzales, S.J
REFLECTION QUESTIONS: What are the poisonous serpents (complaints, sins) in your life? How can you turn them into “aim”?
Lord Jesus, increase my faith in You and in Your power to transform my life’s crosses into blessings.
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