Conversion – from death to life
THE WORD IN LENT 2026 – THURSDAY FIFTH WEEK
March 26 – Genesis 17: 3-9; John 8: 21-30
Our reflection on Listening and Fasting… as a way to Conversion
had lead us to this consideration of our journey from death to life, and we are
nearing the close of this reflection! The Word today takes us back to the origins
posing a fundamental question: why should we undertake this journey? Because we
are called to, by the very identity that we are given with, as people of God,
as people of life!
Abraham is presented to us as a reminder of our origins, when we
were made the people of God, the multitude of nations who were promised to
Abraham – his generations! Generations... that is indeed the crux of the
message that the Word has for us. And it is nothing new to us, as an argument.
We are all much attuned to this discussion of the generations… be it the custom
of the surnames that we hold close to our hearts (as if it is something benign,
vis-à-vis), or the idea of the clan and tribe that we identify ourselves with
(which of course appears to be a bit pejorative at times with its variations
like caste and other considerations!)
What is the Christ-ian sense of Generation – the roots or the identity
that we would like to refer ourselves to? Jesus today speaks of this when he
refers to Abraham, to a people who pride in being sons and daughters of Abraham.
But in his discourse Jesus deconstructs this concept of “generation” in terms
of both time and space, with his statement: your father Abraham rejoiced to
think that he would see my Day; he saw it and was glad. Isn’t that drastically
deconstructive?
Jesus is establishing a paradigm where time or space does not
define generations – neither the chronological link in the chain of birth and
ancestors, not the spatio-geographical link of socio-genetics. Jesus seems to
say that the real sense of “generation” comes in those who know the Father and
listen to the Word (Jesus himself) of the Father and live their lives in accordance.
That is generation and that is true “life” that Jesus gives- that life which
will never end, the eternal life.