FIRST READING
Wisdom 2:1a, 12-22
The wicked said among themselves, thinking not aright: “Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us; he sets himself against our doings, Reproaches us for transgressions of the law and charges us with violations of our training. He professes to have knowledge of God and styles himself a child of the LORD. To us he is the censure of our thoughts; merely to see him is a hardship for us, Because his life is not like that of others, and different are his ways. He judges us debased; he holds aloof from our paths as from things impure. He calls blest the destiny of the just and boasts that God is his Father. Let us see whether his words be true; let us find out what will happen to him. For if the just one be the son of God, he will defend him and deliver him from the hand of his foes. With revilement and torture let us put him to the test that we may have proof of his gentleness and try his patience. Let us condemn him to a shameful death; for according to his own words, God will take care of him.” These were their thoughts, but they erred; for their wickedness blinded them, and they knew not the hidden counsels of God; neither did they count on a recompense of holiness nor discern the innocent souls’ reward.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM
Psalm 34:17-18, 19-20, 21 and 23
R. (19a) The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.
The LORD confronts the evildoers, to destroy remembrance of them from the earth. When the just cry out, the LORD hears them, and from all their distress he rescues them.
R. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; and those who are crushed in spirit he saves. Many are the troubles of the just man, but out of them all the LORD delivers him.
R. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.
He watches over all his bones; not one of them shall be broken. The LORD redeems the lives of his servants; no one incurs guilt who takes refuge in him.
R. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.
VERSE BEFORE THE GOSPEL
Matthew 4:4b
One does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.
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.
What can hold us back from doing the will of God?
Fear, especially the fear of death, can easily rob us of courage and the
will to do what we know is right. Jesus met opposition and the threat of
death with grace and determination to accomplish his Father’s will. Jesus
knew that his mission, his purpose in life, would entail sacrifice and
suffering and culminate with death on the cross. But that would not be
the end. His “hour” would crush defeat with victory, condemnation with
pardon and freedom, and death with glory and everlasting life. He willingly
suffered and went to the cross for our sake, to redeem us from sin and
to restore our relationship with God the Father. Saint Augustine of Hippo
(354-430 AD) says: “Our Lord had the power to lay
down his life and to take it up again. But we cannot choose how long we
shall live, and death comes to us even against our will. Christ, by dying,
has already overcome death. Our freedom from death comes only through his
death. To save us Christ had no need of us. Yet without him we can do nothing.
He gave himself to us as the vine to the branches; apart from him we cannot
live.”
No one can be indifferent with Jesus for long. What he said and did
– his signs and wonders – he did in the name of God. Jesus not only claimed
to be the Messiah, God’s Anointed One. He claimed to be in a unique relationship
with God and to know him as no one else did. To the Jews this was utter
blasphemy. The religious authorities did all they could to put a stop to
Jesus because they could not accept his claims and the demands he made.
We cannot be indifferent to the claims which Jesus makes on us. We are
either for him or against him. There is no middle ground. We can try to
mold Jesus to our own ideas and preferences or we can allow his word to
free us from our own ignorance, stubborn pride, and deception. Do you accept
all that Jesus has said and done for you with faith and reverence or with
disbelief and contempt? The consequences are enormous, both in this life
and in eternity.
“Eternal God, who are the light of the minds that know you, the joy
of the hearts that love you, and the strength of the wills that serve you;
grant us so to know you, that we may truly love you, and so to love you
that we may fully serve you, whom to serve is perfect freedom, in Jesus
Christ our Lord.” (Prayer of Saint Augustine)
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