I hate you: Spend 5 with Jesus: March 24, 2023

There could be those times when a child says to their parents, "I hate you!" Of course it is not the parents the child hates, but the authority of the parents over the child. They want to do their own thing. Sometimes, when we are challenged in doing wrong, we can become angry, because we want to do only what we want to do.

Readings for Today

I hate you

The wicked said among themselves, thinking not aright: “Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us; he sets himself against our doings, Reproaches us for transgressions of the law and charges us with violations of our training. He professes to have knowledge of God and styles himself a child of the LORD.

There could be those times when a child says to their parents, “I hate you!” Of course it is not the parents the child hates, but the authority of the parents over the child. They want to do their own thing. Sometimes, when we are challenged in doing wrong, we can become angry, because we want to do only what we want to do.

Sometimes those following the way and the will of God can be the objects of this same type of anger. Like the selfish child who does not get its own way, we can be like that with those who challenge us when we do wrong. And the more selfish we are, the more we can hate.

It was this reason that the Pharisees treated Jesus this way. They wanted Jesus to stop challenging their way of life. They saw his way of thinking about the Law as a threat to their own way of life. Rather than taking the criticism as a time of reflection, they allowed their anger to turn to hate.

Lent can be that time where we are challenged in the ways we life our life in terms of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. And we probably do not like to be strongly challenged in any of these areas. We can even hate it. But seeking a better relationship with God, to make sacrifices, and to become generous so that we love God and neighbor more should not be things filled with hate, but with the love of God.

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