Monday, March 18, 2024

 

Monday, March 18, 2024 - Do you “feel” forgiven by God? If No, why not?

To read the texts click on the texts: Dan 13:1-9, 15-17,19-30, 33-62; Jn 8:1-11

Most scholars today are of the opinion that this text did nor originally belong to the Gospel of John and was added later. Numerous reasons are put forward to support this view. One is that the term “scribes” used here is the only time in the Gospel that it is used. John does not use “scribes” anywhere else in his Gospel. Another reason is that while in the rest of the Gospel of John the debates with the Jewish leaders are long, here it is brief. This fits in better with the controversy stories of the Synoptic Gospels. Also the Mount of Olives is mentioned only here in the Gospel of John, though in the Synoptic Gospels it is frequently mentioned. Jesus is addressed as “teacher” only here in John. Be that as it may, the text is now part of John’s Gospel and we have to interpret it within the Gospel.

This event takes place in the Temple. Though the law commanded that both the man and woman who engaged in adultery would be put to death (Lev 20:10; Deut 22:22), the scribes and Pharisees accuse the woman alone and do not provide the necessary witnesses who had “caught” the woman in the very act of committing adultery. The intention of the scribes seems clear: it is to trap Jesus. Initially, Jesus does not want to engage the question and so bends down and writes with his finger on the ground. The point here is not what Jesus was writing but the distancing gesture that he performs. Since the scribes persist in the question, Jesus straightens up and addresses the scribes directly. The statement that he makes takes them beyond the question that they ask to a self examination and introspection. Once he has raised the issue, Jesus bends down again and writes with his finger. This time, the intention of writing is to show that he has said all that he has to say and wants them to decide what they have to do. They do not answer in words, but through their action of leaving the place. That all of them leave beginning with the elders is an indication that no one is without sin. When Jesus straightens up the second time he addresses the woman who is alone with him since all others have gone away. The woman who is addressed directly for the first time confirms that no one is left to condemn her. Jesus responds by not condemning her, but also challenging her to receive the new life that forgiveness brings.

The attitude of Jesus to people, whether those who engaged in condemnation or the condemned seems to be the focus of the story. The questions of Jesus to the scribes and Pharisees and the woman allows them equal opportunity to part with old ways after having received forgiveness. Jesus condemns no one, not even those who condemn. However, while the woman accepts the gift of new life, the scribes and Pharisees show their non-acceptance through their actions of going away. It is thus a story of grace and mercy freely given by God in Jesus which when received results in a radical transformation of a person and the challenge of a new life.

While it is true that this story may be seen as a moral lesson informing us that we are not to judge rashly or point fingers at others since when we do, there will be three fingers pointing back at us, it is also a story that goes beyond this moral lesson to the core of the revelation that God makes in Jesus. The God revealed in Jesus is a God who does not condemn, a God who accepts each of us as we are and a God who even when we find it difficult to forgive ourselves, keeps forgiving and accepting us.

Sunday, March 17, 2024 - Homily

 

Sunday, March 17, 2024 - Will you hold on to the old, or grasp the new?

To read the texts click on the texts: Jer 31:31-34; Heb 5:7-9; Jn 12:20-33

‘Anticipation’ is the word that best describes what the readings of today convey. The first reading, from Jeremiah, begins with the words, “The days are surely coming”, and in the Gospel passage, Jesus responds to the arrival of the Greeks with the words “the hour has come”. What are these days? What is that hour? What must we anticipate? What must we expect?

Jeremiah explains that the expectation is of a “new covenant”. This covenant is new, not because it will be made again or made anew with the people but primarily because it is a covenant unlike the earlier ones. It is a covenant that will be written, not on stone tablets but on the hearts of all.

The effects of this covenant will be unlike the earlier ones. This covenant will be kept by the people and not broken. The reason for this is that people will be convinced of it and know that it is a covenant for their good and for God’s glory. They will know that it is in their best interest to keep it. Instead of being like children, who only keep their parent’s rules because of the promise of reward or the threat of punishment, the people will keep God’s law and live God’s commandments because their own consciences direct them to. They will be convinced of the law in their hearts. Instead of a purely external conformity, God’s law would now be internalized and people would pursue the right path because it would be part of their basic character and identity. This is what Jeremiah means when he talks about God’s Law being planted deep within his people and written on their hearts. God takes the initiative in making this new covenant and shows this in his action of forgiving all sin. He is a gracious God, a God who wants all to be saved.

This new covenant was made in the most perfect of ways when God made it in Jesus. In Jesus, sin was forgiven and love took centre stage. This is confirmed directly at the end of the Gospel reading, in what is termed as the final passion, resurrection, and ascension prediction in the Gospel of John. In that reading – he will draw all people to himself. The effect of the “lifting up” of Jesus will be – not condemnation – but acceptance of people. Even when on the cross, Jesus will continue to save and to redeem.

That Jesus could draw all to himself, only in and through the cross, is affirmed in his words about the whet grain. Speaking of himself and his impending passion, he directs attention to a grain of wheat which can only give life when it dies to itself. If the grain of wheat will not die, it remains what it is and will be unable give new life.

The letter to the Hebrews picks up this theme and narrates the incident of the prayer of Jesus at Gethsemane. On one level, Jesus would have preferred to save without the cross, and this was the content of the first part of his prayer when he asked the Father to take the cup away. However, on the deeper level, he knew that the cross was not just one way, but the only way, and that is why he adds “not my will but yours be done”. Hebrews thus confirms that Jesus willingly chose to become like the grain of wheat which would fall, and die, in order to give life and save. This was Jesus’ ‘hour’, the hour when he would go to his death, but also, without doubt, the hour when he would be glorified, the hour in which all would be drawn to him. It was the hour when self-centeredness was driven out by self-sacrifice. It was the hour when new life conquered death, and eternal, unconditional love conquered sin.

This is, therefore, a cause for great joy and optimism. Though we know how often wed have failed to live up to the promises we have made in the past, God continues to say to us at every moment: “See, I am making a new covenant”. Though we keep choosing sin over love, and self-centeredness over selflessness, God keeps inviting us to the ‘hour’ of his son. This is the hour in which he will make all things new.

This newness, however, can never come about unless we, like Jesus, make a conscious decision to collaborate and co-operate with God. We have to dare, like Jesus, to become like that grain of wheat which will fall to the ground and die. We have to understand, like Jesus, that unless we die to our selfish ambitions and our selfish desires to have more, that unless we die to our petty dreams of personal advancement at the expense of the majority, God cannot make all things new. The newness that God brings in Jesus is a newness that needs our active co-operation and collaboration. It needs us to keep saying “Yes”.

Saturday, March 16, 2024 - Homily

 

Saturday, March 16, 2024 - Will you understand that God will reveal himself to you in ways you never even considered? Will you find him in everything that happens today?

To read the texts click on the texts: Jer 11:18-20; Jn7:40-52

The invitation of Jesus to the thirsty to come and drink from the living water that he will give leads to the discussion among the people which begins the text for today. While those who come on hearing this invitation regard Jesus as “the” prophet, others explicitly call him the Messiah. Still others question whether Jesus could really be the Messiah because of the popular belief that the Messiah would come from Bethlehem. Yet it was also true that some believed that the origins of the Messiah would be a mystery and no one would know where he would come from. These contrary views lead to a difference of opinion and though some want to arrest Jesus they do not lay hands on him.

When the police return to inform their masters that they could not arrest Jesus because they had never heard anyone speak like him, they are accused of having also been deceived by Jesus and taken in by his sophistry.

Nicodemus who is also one of the Jewish authorities speaks on behalf of Jesus and reminds his companions of the law and a hearing that was required before judgement. His question is ironic and seems intended to bring out that his companions knowledge of the law is a matter of doubt. They respond to Nicodemus in the same way in which they respond to the temple police. They deride him and assert their seemingly superior knowledge of scripture. Though they are emphatic that no prophet is to arise from Galilee, this knowledge is faulty, because the scriptures do speak of the Galilean origins of the prophet Jonah. John intends to convey through this assertion on the part of the Pharisees that they had misunderstood both the origins of the Messiah and who he is. Traditional messianic categories are inadequate because they rely on prior assumptions and expectations rather than judging Jesus on the basis of what he reveals about himself: that he is the one sent from God.

 

Jesus will always remain bigger than anything that we can ever imagine. Our most intimate encounters with him must make us realize this. He cannot be captured by the concepts, words or images that we use and while these help us to get to know his better, they will always be inadequate. Yet, this does not mean that we cannot know him as intimately as we want to. He reveals himself to each of us according to the level of openness we possess.

Friday, March 15, 2024 - Homily

 

Friday, March 15, 2024 - Will you open your eyes, ears and heart and SEE that God is present in our world even today?

 To read the texts click on the texts: Wis 2:1, 12-22; Jn7:1-2, 10, 25-30

The feast of the tabernacles was originally a harvest festival and was linked to the journey of Israel in the desert after the exodus when they stayed in tents or booths. It was a seven day festival that brought great joy and during this festival people lived in booths to remember their sojourn and God’s graciousness to them. The liturgical rites performed during this festival, included water libation and torch-lit processions. These form the background for the discourse of Jesus during this festival.

The crowds are surprised to see Jesus teaching in public despite the death threats and so wonder if he could indeed be the Messiah. They also wonder if the authorities know that Jesus is the Messiah but are denying it for some reason. Soon, “reasonableness” gives way to insight and intuition when the crowds go back to their stereotypes. They “know” where Jesus comes from and since no one will know where the Messiah comes from, Jesus cannot be the Messiah. The fact is that the crowds know only one aspect of Jesus’ antecedents. Jesus informs them that they are not aware that his real origin is in God. One will only be able to recognize and know Jesus when one realizes that he comes from God and has been sent by him. This upsets the listeners and though they try to arrest him, they cannot do so, because the ordained hour set by God has not yet come.

The crucial question here is whether or not one perceives Jesus as having been sent by God. The answer to this question determines whether one is on the right track or engaged in only superficial reflection. One reason why the authorities’ could not recognize Jesus as having been sent by God was because they had made up their minds already. They refused to let God work in the way he wanted. They decided how God must work and how the Messiah would come. They “knew”. This “knowledge” led to their being closed to the revelation that God made, so that even after he came, they continued to look for another.

God continues to come to us in various disguises and forms. He comes in persons, events and situations. If we decide in advance how he must come, then there is the danger that we too might continue to miss him and not be aware of his presence. The way to be able to find him in all things and all things in him is to be open and receptive and let God be God. It is to open our eyes, ears and every fiber of our being to the revelation that he will make and to be prepared for that revelation in the most unexpected persons, places and events.

Thursday, March 14, 2024 - Homily

 

Thursday, March 14, 2024 - Do you believe in Jesus? How will you show that you are a “believer”?

To read the texts click on the texts: Exod 32:7-14; Jn5:31-47

The text of today contains the second part of the discourse of Jesus in response to the outrage of the Jewish leaders because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath. It can be seen to be divided into two parts. The first part speaks about the witnesses John and the Father who testify to Jesus’ claims and the second part about the rejection of Jesus and the unbelief of the leaders.

The witness that Jesus offers is not his own since no one can legitimately or validly bear witness on his own behalf. The first witness Jesus mentions here is John the Baptist who in the Gospel of John is portrayed more as a witness rather than as a precursor or Baptist as he is in the Synoptic Gospels. In witnessing to the truth John witnessed to Jesus since Jesus is the truth. However, John was a mere lamp and not the light so though his testimony is true there is another witness far greater than John and that is the works that Jesus has accomplished after being sent by the Father. “Works’ here seems to refer not just to the miracles that Jesus worked but to the whole of his ministry. These works are the works of the Father and so bear witness to him and to the relationship that Jesus shares with him as Son. Since Jesus as Son does what God as father commands him to do, Jesus completes the Father’s own works. The third witness is the Father himself. God himself cannot be seen, yet, he has been made visible in Jesus and the Jewish leaders have refused to believe the God made so visible.

The scriptures also testify on behalf of Jesus and though the leaders search and study the scriptures because they seek life, they refuse to believe what they learn there, namely that Jesus is the one who gives life and life in abundance. This is because they are unable to distinguish truth from falsehood. It is not Jesus but Moses himself who will accuse them of unbelief. This is because Moses also testified to Jesus and despite his testimony, they have refused to believe. If one believes what Moses wrote, one has to believe in Jesus, there is no middle ground here.

It is not easy to believe in Jesus, because such a belief calls for a radical change in one’s life’s orientation. Belief in Jesus will mean a movement from selfishness to selfless, domination to service and fear to love and not many are inclined to make this change. Most of us are content to live our lives insulated from others and preferring to live as islands rather than as community. We pretend not to know who we are and what our calling is. It seems easier this way. However, as the Gospel text makes clear there is no middle ground and if one is not willing to live the kind of life that Jesus invites us to as his disciples, then one is a non-believer.