Daily Catholic Lectio. Fri, 15 Mar 2024. Wicked and righteous

Daily Catholic Lectio

Fri, 15 March 2024

Friday of the Fourth Week of Lent

Wisdom 2:1a, 12-22. John 7:1-2, 10, 25-30

Wicked and righteous

There is a saying, “Expecting life to treat you well because you are good is like expecting the bull not to charge at you because you are vegetarian.” The readings of the day portray the struggle between the wicked and the righteous.

The first reading is taken from the Wisdom of Solomon, a Deutero-canonical book written in the context of Hellenization (Greek language, culture, religion, and philosophy) propagated by Alexander the Great. The author calls the Jews who left their religion to cling on to the Greek way of life wicked and calls those who clung to Judaism righteous.

Though the righteous were small in number, they were pebbles in the shoes of the wicked, who wanted to get rid of them at any cost. The author encourages the righteous to remain in their righteousness, giving them the message that God is at their side and he will not abandon them.

What are the harms that the wicked do to the righteous? (a) They consider them trouble; (b) They plot against them; and (c) They await their death.

The author concludes that it is not the plot of the wicked that wins, but the plan of God that wins in the end.

In the gospel reading, the first tension between the Jews and Jesus comes to an end. The conflict, which began with the event of Jesus healing a sick man at Bethesda, continues through Jesus multiplying the loaves. The Jews want to arrest Jesus and confine him, but they do not.

Both readings acknowledge the fact that there is a conflict between the wicked and the righteous.

The lessons for us are: Whatever evil befalls us, let us be firm because God is at our side; everything happens not according to the plot of the wicked but according to the plan of God.

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The conflict between the wicked and the righteous is natural. We encounter evil from the wicked, and at times we too are evil. Refraining from doing good is equally bad. The wickedness in us can always be overcome. (Jubilee A. D. 2025, bite 55)

Fr. Yesu Karunanidhi

Archdiocese of Madurai

Missionary of Mercy