SUFFERING AND REFUGE
As we look back at this past year, it feels like decades have gone by. How could so much have happened in such little time? One moment life was great. We had so much to be thankful for- good jobs, good health, a happy family, great community. Then the next moment felt like a flip of a switch. The world was shutting down with this pandemic. There was worry that we or loved ones could get sick. We cancelled all big plans we had for worry of what could happen.
As the year of 2020 went on, more and more things piled up on us. Jobs got harder and coworkers became distant. Family members struggled with health and needed help. Some people we thought we knew suddenly became people we didn’t know we could trust. There were so many little things that we felt like “is this really fair to us?”
In today’s readings, the responsorial psalm talks about refuge. The word refuge could not be more comforting - we know that Jesus has been there, walking with us this whole time. We have been able to lean on or “take refuge” in him when we needed it most. In the gospel reading, Nicodemus asks “why does Jesus not get a fair trial before he gets to speak.” The Pharisees in their hubris rejected Jesus on the assumption of where he was from. He hailed from Galilee and with their knowledge they were emphatic that no descendants of David would come from there. He was in fact born in Bethlehem which is close to Jerusalem and the Davidian lineage. In thinking about this past year, there have been times where God has not felt present. But through the lens of the Gospel reading, it makes us stop and think- maybe God does have a plan and is here with us in this suffering. Instead of feeling that God is not present in difficult times, let us give Him a chance by looking at what has still been provided, something the Pharisees failed to do.
How have you taken refuge during these challenging times? Have you given Jesus a fair trial in your life recently? Let us stick close to Jesus to seek refuge and trust.
Kaleila and Alex Berglund