Reading and meditation on the Word of God on Saturday of the fifth week of Lent, April 12, 2025

Delivered by Christine Gunawan from the Parish of Saint Joseph Cathedral of Pontianak in the Archdiocese of Pontianak, Indonesia. Ezekiel 37: 21-28; Rs psalm 31: 10.11-12ab.13; John 11: 45-56.A DEAL MADE Our meditation today is entitled: A Deal Made. Thereis a story about the heavens and the earth enjoy to make conflicts. Quarrelsbecome their food every day. Only with small things, trivial matters, simpleproblems, they easily come into commotion and fight. For example, the sky dropstoo much rain, the earth protests. Instead the earth sends too much of itssteam upwards, the sky protests. It's just that the two of them always get areason to fight. But at a certain time and need, they both agreed towork together. If humans turn out to destroy their natural environment, theearth agrees with the sky so that there is an appropriate punishment for humansthat the soil and environment become dry. The sky holds its rainwater. On theother hand, if humans take great care of the earth and its environment, theearth agrees with the sky to provide fertility and warmth for human life andall creatures on earth.  An agreement is born from the reality of differentsides or parties. Its main function is to ensure that the agreement is upheldand used as a basis for cooperation, collaboration and coexistence. From thepoint of view of our faith, the difference between God's position and purposeand the ruler of evil is very sharp. We understand that God and Satan cannotcooperate. It is impossible for us to find a single deal or agreement betweenthe two sides.  Because of Jesus Christ and His messenger, anagreement was created between God's will and Satan's will through Jesus'enemies, namely the scribes, Pharisees and high priests. God has decreed thatJesus Christ would die to gather and unite God's scattered children. The sameview also came from the high priest Caiaphas who prophesied that Jesus ofNazareth would die to gather and unite the scattered children of Israel.  This agreement had to take place, so that JudasIscariot who was possessed by Satan could carry out his task. An agreement mustbe made so that we can all celebrate the events from the garden of Gethsemaneto Golgotha until Jesus was buried. The will of the Father in heaven must bedone, but in order to carry out that will, there is an opportunity for evil,violence, and sin to take part. This is of course true for us, therefore Jesushas already made a covenant, that all difficulties and persecutions will comeupon each of his followers. When we do His will,temptations-difficulties-sufferings-persecutions accompany. God sees it,permits and approves of it. A deal has happened for us.Let us pray.  In thename of the Father ... O Lord, may we continue to follow the example of JesusChrist in facing all the sufferings in our lives. Glory to the Father and to theSon and to the Holy Spirit ... In the name of the Father ...