The Word God Spells

John 13: 21-33, 36-38
Is 49: 1-6/ Ps 71: 1-6, 15 and 17

Will you lay down your life for me? Amen, amen, I say to you, the cock will not crow before you deny me three times.
(John 13:38)

God tempers our fidelity
In the fire of tests and trials.
He’ll turn to good all inequities,
Even betrayals and denials.

As the time drew near for the culmination of our Lord’s mission, He gathered the 12 apostles for the feast of the Passover. Before they ate the meal, He washed their feet as His last lesson on the essential meaning of leadership (servanthood). Then He dispatched Judas to proceed with his scheme of betrayal. After Judas left, Jesus said, “My children, I will be with you only a little while longer… Where I am going, you cannot follow Me now, though you will follow Me later.” Immediately, Peter reacted (as he always did), saying, “Master, why can’t I follow You now? I will lay down my life for You.” But Jesus knew his heart, and said, “Will you lay down your life for Me? Amen, amen, I say to you, the cock will not crow before you deny Me three times.”

Reflection

The last meal that Jesus shared with His friends before His passion and death must have been the saddest experience of His life. He knew that He was going to be betrayed by one of them. Then, another whom He had anointed to be their leader would reveal his cowardice, and deny His friendship consecutively for three times, barely a few hours after pledging that he would lay down his life for Him.

Judas has come to symbolize for us the height of treachery, which tragically drove him to the unpardonable sin of despair. He was no doubt a friend of Jesus, especially chosen by the Master to be the group’s treasurer. How could Judas betray such a sacred confidence and a friend like Jesus? And then Peter, whom He had exalted as the rock upon which He would build His Church. How could he jeopardize this position Jesus bequeathed to him as the apostles’ leader, declaring his loyalty to the end for all to hear, and then denying he knew Jesus at the first sign of danger?

The case of Judas shows us how wicked a person can become because of money. But aren’t we all in danger of becoming a little like Judas whenever we put the pursuit of money (our business) above our concern to become closer to Jesus and the Father? How many stall owners in malls and markets close shop on Sundays? There too may also be a bit of Peter’s cowardice in us whenever we hesitate to stand up for Jesus or the Gospel when our friends start criticizing Church doctrines or our Catholic beliefs. How easily we justify our denials by saying we just don’t want to offend our friends.

Father, stir us when we hesitate to stand up for Jesus or His Word in our workplaces and our fellowships. Disturb our conscience should we start to sacrifice our moral values for the sake of material gain. Prevent us from ever denying Jesus. Amen.

John 7: 40-53
Jer 11: 18-20/ Ps 7: 2-3, 9-12

No man ever spoke like this man!
(John 7:46)

Your will, O Lord, is our command
In our quest for transformation;
Grant us wisdom to understand
Your divine plan of salvation.

When they heard these words, some of the people said, “This is really the prophet.” Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Is the Christ to come from Galilee? Has not the scripture said that the Christ is descended from David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?” So there was a division among the people over him. Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him. The officers then went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?” The officers answered, “No man ever spoke like this man!” The Pharisees answered them, “Are you led astray, you also? Have any of the authorities or of the Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd, who do not know the law, are accursed.” Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” They replied, “Are you from Galilee too? Search and you will see that no prophet is to rise from Galilee.” They went each to his own house.

Reflection

Jesus provoked different responses from among the people who heard Him preach. Some were excited: “Could this be a prophet from God?” Others were convinced that “This is the Christ.” And still others were skeptical that He was the Messiah as they questioned His origin. The Pharisees and Scribes reacted with anger and cynicism, as they viewed Him as a threat to their established traditions. Nicodemus was the only one among them who had enough sense to give Jesus the benefit of the doubt, but he was not brave enough to compromise his standing with his peers, and so backed down. But the power of Jesus’ words also moved the temple guards who were sent to arrest Him. They came back empty handed because His time had not yet come.

Jesus lived up to His word when He said that He had not come to bring peace upon the earth, but division (Mt.10:34). Through the centuries, many have indeed been divided in their relationship with Christ. God has given us free will, the power to make a choice: to take a stand for Christ and the Gospel, or to continue pursuing our own deluded quest for freedom and self-realization. To follow the example of Jesus and offer our lives in selfless love for God and others, or to follow our self-centered desires according to the standards of the world, as opposed to God’s kingdom. During this time of Lent, let us meditate on this important crossroads in our life. And may we follow the choice of Joshua, the successor of Moses, who said, “Decide today whom you will serve, the gods your fathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are dwelling. As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15).

Disturb me, O Lord, if You must, that I may always be loyal to You. I surrender my will to Your cross, that I may earn the eternal glory of Your kingdom. Amen.

Matthew 10:34 –11:1
Ex 1:8-14.22 / Ps 124

Whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
(Matthew 10:38)

As we have been shown by Jesus,
May God’s love be our life’s mission.
For the poor, live out the Good News;
This should be our prime profession.

Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father,
and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. ‘Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous man because he is righteous will receive a righteous man’s reward. And whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones to drink because he is a disciple — truly I tell you, he will surely not lose his reward.”

Reflection

At first it would seem paradoxical to read the Prince of Peace saying He did not come to bring peace, but a sword. But what Jesus was doing was preparing His disciples for the coming persecution that missionaries of the Gospel would be encountering, even up to the present age. Indeed there would be conflicts –- even among family members -– over doctrinal differences, and even His own family –- the Church — would not be exempt from the coming schisms. But our Lord pointed out that no loyalties or commitments on earth can ever be more important than our relationship with Him, even if it means breaking away from our loved ones (as priests do for their vocation), or taking up our cross (trials) to follow Him in our individual missions.

A Jesuit priest once said in his homily, “Life is all about living out our mission from God, nothing more, and nothing less.” And as many of us have heard in countless other homilies, the common thread that binds all of our life missions is to make God’s love for all men a reality in our own individual undertakings. When our goal in life is simply to become the best or the most successful in our chosen career or profession, then we have not yet discovered the real purpose of our existence.

In the daily email messages among high school and college batchmates in our e-group, one of the common topics of conversation revolves around the poverty and social ills of our country. When a suggestion was made for pledges to help build forty low-cost houses for the homeless through the Gawad Kalinga to commemorate our batch’s Ruby anniversary, the quota was filled in just a matter of days, and donations started to pour in. Other concerns like extending financial help to some classmates in medical distress also came up, and the same spirit of love and compassion was shown in “welcoming Jesus and His Father into our lives.” All of us are grateful for the Ignatian ideals that our Jesuit mentors of the past (and our modern day prophets) had successfully ingrained in our formative years. It is to their credit that we have learned to give more than “a cup of cold water” to the poor, having been blessed by the love taught by our Lord Jesus Christ.

May we always live Jesus’ message of love in our lives so that we can magnify You, Almighty God. Amen.