Spy Wednesday

Not a very nice name, is it? Puts all the attention on treachery. But the first reading focuses elsewhere. It is the declaration of the Suffering Servant that he has been graced "to speak to the weary a word that will rouse them." Not a word of denunciation, but a stirring word of encouragement--and this coming from someone who is publicly beaten and mocked!
There is something in that. It is easier to denounce than to encourage. Even the Corinthians thought Paul was weak because he preferred to exhort and encourage rather than threaten (although he later reminded them that he had "authority to tear down and to build up" and that he could very well "come with a rod" on his next visit).
Technically, Lent ends as the Triduum begins tomorrow evening. I pray that in this Triduum, all the "weary" will hear the word they most need from the one who "loved us and gave himself for us."