Year: 2024

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Gospel: John 7: 1-2, 10, 25-30

Jesus moved about within Galilee;
he did not wish to travel in Judea,
because the Jews were trying to kill him.
But the Jewish feast of Tabernacles was near.

But when his brothers had gone up to the feast,
he himself also went up, not openly but as it were in secret.

Some of the inhabitants of Jerusalem said,
“Is he not the one they are trying to kill?
And look, he is speaking openly and they say nothing to him.
Could the authorities have realized that he is the Christ?
But we know where he is from.
When the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from.”
So Jesus cried out in the temple area as he was teaching and said,
“You know me and also know where I am from.
Yet I did not come on my own,
but the one who sent me, whom you do not know, is true.
I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me.”
So they tried to arrest him,
but no one laid a hand upon him,
because his hour had not yet come.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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“No one laid a hand on him because his hour had not come.” 

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Throughout John’s Gospel, Jesus makes constant reference to his “hour.” 

We first hear him speak about it at the wedding at Cana, when Jesus turns 150 gallons of water into wine at the prompting of Mary.

We hear him reference his “hour” again in today’s Gospel. The religious authorities are collapsing in on him, plotting to kill him, but they cannot do so yet because his “hour” has not come.

Everything that Jesus does throughout his ministry, every sermon he preaches, every miracle he performs is somehow inspired by – and related to – this “hour.”

So, what is the “hour” Jesus is so aware of?

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The “hour” of his crucifixion, death, and resurrection. As he says the night he’s arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, “for this hour have I come.”

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In two weeks from today, you and I will journey with Jesus into the Garden of Gethsemane, through his arrest, trial, and crucifixion, then to the empty tomb on Easter Sunday. 

Jesus prepared his whole life for this hour, just as you and I should be preparing ourselves spiritually this Lent.  

So, how’s it going? Have we had a fruitful Lent thus far? Have we sacrificed with the Lord? Have we served him in our neighbor? Have we prepared our hearts for the scandal of the Cross?

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There’s only two weeks left until Good Friday. Jesus will embrace his “hour” with incredible courage, knowing that his death leads to his resurrection.

Make every effort to remain by his side. For his resurrection promises your own.

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Image credits: (1) Time Lords: The Clocks that Rule our World, BBC (2) Heinrich Hofmann, Public Domain (3) Christianity.com

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Gospel: John 5: 31-47

Jesus said to the Jews: 
“If I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is not true.
But there is another who testifies on my behalf,
and I know that the testimony he gives on my behalf is true.
You sent emissaries to John, and he testified to the truth.
I do not accept human testimony,
but I say this so that you may be saved.
He was a burning and shining lamp,
and for a while you were content to rejoice in his light.
But I have testimony greater than John’s.
The works that the Father gave me to accomplish,
these works that I perform testify on my behalf
that the Father has sent me.
Moreover, the Father who sent me has testified on my behalf.
But you have never heard his voice nor seen his form,
and you do not have his word remaining in you,
because you do not believe in the one whom he has sent.
You search the Scriptures,
because you think you have eternal life through them;
even they testify on my behalf.
But you do not want to come to me to have life.

“I do not accept human praise;
moreover, I know that you do not have the love of God in you. 
I came in the name of my Father,
but you do not accept me;
yet if another comes in his own name,
you will accept him.
How can you believe, when you accept praise from one another
and do not seek the praise that comes from the only God?
Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father:
the one who will accuse you is Moses,
in whom you have placed your hope.
For if you had believed Moses,
you would have believed me,
because he wrote about me. 
But if you do not believe his writings,
how will you believe my words?”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Every morning before I begin praying at my desk, I light a tea candle and place it in a stand. That candle burns bright for over an hour until its little wick runs out, disappearing into a silhouette of smoke.

Symbolically, that candle reminds me of John the Baptist, whom Jesus praises in today’s Gospel.

“He was a burning and shining lamp,” Jesus says, “and for a while you were content to rejoice in his light.”

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Like a tea candle, John gave off light, leading people to Christ. 

And just as a candle warms whatever is near it, John warmed human hearts with his goodness.

Above all, like a candle, John slowly burned away his life, his understanding, his entire will until only Christ remained. 

As he himself said, “He must increase, and I must decrease.”

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In what ways are we like John the Baptist? 

Do we emit the light of Christ? 

Do we attract others by our warmth? 

Do we allow the Holy Spirit to melt away our plans and desires until only Christ is left?

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Lent is the time for us to live more like John, who like a little candle, gave himself away.

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Image credits: (1) FireFly Fuel, Tea Candle (2) Saint John the Baptist in the Wilderness, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (3) Everypixel.com

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Gospel: John 5: 17-30

Jesus answered the Jews: 
“My Father is at work until now, so I am at work.”
For this reason they tried all the more to kill him,
because he not only broke the sabbath
but he also called God his own father, making himself equal to God.

Jesus answered and said to them,
“Amen, amen, I say to you, the Son cannot do anything on his own,
but only what he sees the Father doing;
for what he does, the Son will do also.
For the Father loves the Son
and shows him everything that he himself does,
and he will show him greater works than these,
so that you may be amazed.
For just as the Father raises the dead and gives life,
so also does the Son give life to whomever he wishes.
Nor does the Father judge anyone,
but he has given all judgment to the Son,
so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father.
Whoever does not honor the Son
does not honor the Father who sent him.
Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever hears my word
and believes in the one who sent me
has eternal life and will not come to condemnation,
but has passed from death to life.
Amen, amen, I say to you, the hour is coming and is now here
when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God,
and those who hear will live.
For just as the Father has life in himself,
so also he gave to the Son the possession of life in himself.
And he gave him power to exercise judgment,
because he is the Son of Man.
Do not be amazed at this,
because the hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs
will hear his voice and will come out,
those who have done good deeds
to the resurrection of life,
but those who have done wicked deeds
to the resurrection of condemnation.

“I cannot do anything on my own;
I judge as I hear, and my judgment is just,
because I do not seek my own will
but the will of the one who sent me.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Perhaps the most famous love story in literary history is William Shakespeare’s, Romeo and Juliet.

You may remember the famous balcony scene when Juliet gazes down upon Romeo and says, “Romeo, the more I give to you, the more I seem to have.”

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Juliet learned to see the world through Romeo’s eyes.

She dreamt her lover’s dreams and sought to please her lover’s needs, because the happier Romeo was, the happier Juliet became.

The more she gave, the more she had.

That’s the essence of love.

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Jesus is describing a similar love with his Father in today’s Gospel.

“I do not seek my own will,” he says, “but the will of the one who sent me.” 

Everything Jesus says and does is to glorify his heavenly Father, even at the cost of his own life.

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The same is true for us.

The more we give ourselves to God – the more we pray, the more we love him, the more we serve him in our neighbor – the happier we become.

In what ways can I love God today?

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We’ll always be happier when we do.

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Image credits: (1) The Trinity, Taddeo Crivelli (2) The Holy Trinity, Nicoletto Semitecolo (3) Christian Wall Art Bible Verse, eBay