“CAN ANYTHING GOOD COME OUT OF GALILEE?” (Jn 7:40-53): 08 March 2008 (Saturday)
When I was a shy and skinny six-year old kid in Kindergarten, my teacher had this brilliant idea of putting up a play called “Prince Charming and Cinderella”–in Mandarin! Thankfully, no dialogue had to be memorized since all the lines had been pre-recorded. All we kids had to do was run around and pretend we were speaking the lines (Think “Meteor Garden” or “Jewel in the Palace” and you get the picture).
“MUST YOU GO ABOUT IN SECRET?” (Jn 7:1-2, 10, 25-30): 07 March 2008 (Friday)
How ironic that in today’s reading, to celebrate a feast, our Lord had to go “not openly, but as it were, in secret.” It’s of course understandable since the Jews were out to kill him, but when we think about it, it’s true even today. Even today, thousands of years after his death and resurrection, the Lord continues to go about in secret.
“CAN I BE A SHINING LAMP FOR YOU?” (Jn 5:31-47): 06 March 2008 (Thursday)
The Lord gives a long speech in today’s gospel, as he typically does in John’s gospel, but one line leapt out of the screen when I read it (I was reading the passage from an online Bible). Referring to John the Baptist, he says, “He was a burning and shining lamp.”
My first thought: Can I be the same? I know my shortcomings and my sinfulness, but for some reason, I felt the question from inside me: “Can I also be a burning and shining lamp?”
‘WHY CAN’T IT ALWAYS BE SO GOOD?’ (Jn 5:17-30): 05 March 2008 (Wednesday)
One of the first hits of the band Lighthouse Family is “Lost in Space”–an obvious love song where the singer typically waxes poetry about his beloved. I don’t know if it’s some of the lines in the song (“How will I ever get to Heaven without you?”) or the title of the album (“Postcards from Heaven”) or even the music video (which features the giant statue of Christ, arms outstretched over Sao Paolo), but for some reason, I’ve always attached a religious or spiritual meaning to this song.
“WILL I SINK LIKE A STONE?” (Jn 5:1-16): 04 March 2008 (Tuesday)
The band Grace has a poetic and provocative music video for their song “Sink Like A Stone.” It shows a man lying on a raft floating in the middle of nowhere. We’re not sure, but he looks like he has just survived a shipwreck.
A number of things happen to him while at sea: He accidentally drops his ring into the ocean. He examines his locket. He sets a toy boat on fire and sends it sailing away (to call for help?). All the while he is singing a sad, haunting mantra: “Oh no, oh no, I’m not alone (even if) I may sink like a stone. Sink like a stone…”