Reading I
Nm 21:4-9
From Mount Hor the children of Israel set out on the Red Sea road, to bypass the land of Edom.
But with their patience worn out by the journey,
the people complained against God and Moses,
“Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in this desert,
where there is no food or water?
We are disgusted with this wretched food!”
In punishment the LORD sent among the people saraph serpents,
which bit the people so that many of them died.
Then the people came to Moses and said,
“We have sinned in complaining against the LORD and you.
Pray the LORD to take the serpents away from us.”
So Moses prayed for the people, and the LORD said to Moses,
“Make a saraph and mount it on a pole,
and whoever looks at it after being bitten will live.”
Moses accordingly made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole,
and whenever anyone who had been bitten by a serpent
looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.
Gospel
Jn 8:21-30
Jesus said to the Pharisees:
“I am going away and you will look for me,
but you will die in your sin.
Where I am going you cannot come.”
So the Jews said,
“He is not going to kill himself, is he,
because he said, ‘Where I am going you cannot come’?”
He said to them, “You belong to what is below,
I belong to what is above.
You belong to this world,
but I do not belong to this world.
That is why I told you that you will die in your sins.
For if you do not believe that I AM,
you will die in your sins.”
So they said to him, “Who are you?”
Jesus said to them, “What I told you from the beginning.
I have much to say about you in condemnation.
But the one who sent me is true,
and what I heard from him I tell the world.”
They did not realize that he was speaking to them of the Father.
So Jesus said to them,
“When you lift up the Son of Man,
then you will realize that I AM,
and that I do nothing on my own,
but I say only what the Father taught me.
The one who sent me is with me.
He has not left me alone,
because I always do what is pleasing to him.”
Because he spoke this way, many came to believe in him.
Meditation: John 8:21-30
When the Pharisees heard Jesus saying these words, they were aghast that this man, who had no position in the Sanhedrin would make such a statement about himself. You can also imagine the whispering and angry comments that circulated as Jesus said: “You belong to what is below, I belong to what is above” (John 8:23).
As abrupt and unexpected as these words are, they convey a beautiful promise: Jesus wants us to live “above” with him, not only in the eternity of heaven but even here, on earth.
This is a lofty, even comforting, sentiment. But what does it mean in our everyday lives? How can we place ourselves in a position where we can be lifted up with Jesus? One way is to pay attention to the way we react when someone or something tempts us to anger. Do we stop and say a quick prayer for patience and understanding before we speak? Or do we lose our temper and lash out? The more we practice patience and ask the Lord for help, the more we will find the Holy Spirit lifting us up and giving us his own grace and strength.
During this special season of introspection and self-denial, let’s ask the Lord to help us recognize all the patterns of our fallen nature: not just anger but selfishness, greed, resentment, and pride. Let’s place our hope in the promise that, together with the Holy Spirit, we can overcome these vices and become more like Jesus, the One who lived “above” all the time.
Yes, it takes time and a great deal of our own will to do it. Yes, we will also falter and fail at times. But if we persist in asking the Lord for his help, and if we persist in trying our best to turn away from sin, we will find ourselves more humble, more loving, more compassionate, more stable and purposeful in our actions and intentions. In other words, we will find ourselves experiencing heavenly life with Jesus, even as we go about our everyday lives here on earth.
“Jesus, fill me with the Holy Spirit so that I may become dead to my sins. I don’t want to die in my sins. Rather, I want to live with you in heaven.”
No comments:
Post a Comment