Wednesday of the Tenth Week of Ordinary Time
“I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.”
Jesus did not come to fulfill a text; he came to fulfill His Father’s will!
When we translate this into our lives, we can immediately think of our practice of praying the Sacred Scriptures or lectio divina. Our goal is not to complete a certain number of verses or books of the Bible, for example, in a year’s time. Nor is our goal simply to put in so much time daily at the practice of lectio – although it may seem like it many times! Yes, surely we want to persevere daily in allowing the Sacred Scriptures to speak to us, whether that be in lectio proper or here in the Eucharist or in the Liturgy of the Hours, in the events of our lives.
But our goal, like that of Jesus and in Jesus, is to allow God to bring us to fulfillment. We aim to come to “the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ (Ephesians 4:13).” We desire to “grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ (Ephesians 4:15).”
St. Paul talks about this in regard to his sufferings: “Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of His Body, which is the Church.” Or, in another translation: “I fill up what Christ still has to suffer in my person.”
Jesus has come to draw us to be with Him in His bringing all things back to the Father from whom they came! In this sense, He is a new Elijah who comes to center our worship on the one, true God.
In our daily use of the Sacred Scriptures, may we find and know this loving Christ.
Reflection by Fr. Xavier Nacke, OSB
Posted in Articles for Lent, Daily Reflections, Lenten Resources