1) Opening prayer
God of the poor and the humble,
we thank You today for choosing Mary
as the Virgin Mother of Jesus, Your Son.
Her faith and willing service
opened the way to Your new world.
Dispose us to seek Your will
and to cooperate with Your plans
that we too, like Mary,
may give to the world its Savior
Jesus Christ, Your Son and our Lord.
2) Gospel Reading – Luke 1:26-38
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.
He went in and said to her, “Rejoice, you who enjoy God's favor! The Lord is with you.” She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, “Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God's favor. Look! You are to conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you must name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His ancestor David; He will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and His reign will have no end.”
Mary said to the angel, “But how can this come about, since I have no knowledge of man?”' The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God. And I tell you this too: your cousin Elizabeth also, in her old age, has conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible to God.”
Mary said, “You see before you the Lord's servant, let it happen to me as you have said.” And the angel left her.
3) Reflection
• The visit of the angel to Mary reminds us of the visit of God to different women of the Old Testament: Sarah, mother of Isaac (Gen 18: 9-15), Anne, mother of Samuel (1 Sam 1: 9-18), the mother of Samson (Judg 13: 2-5). All of them announced the birth of a son with an important mission in God’s plan.
• The account begins with the expression “in the sixth month”. It is the sixth month of the pregnancy of Elizabeth. The need of Elizabeth, a woman advanced in age who is expecting her first son with the risk of delivery, is the background of this entire story. Elizabeth is mentioned at the beginning (Lk 1:26) and at the end of the visit of the angel (Lk 1:36,39).
• The angel says, “Rejoice, you who enjoy God’s favor, the Lord is with you!” Similar words were said also to Moses (Ex 3: 12), to Jeremiah (Jer 1: 8), to Gideon (Judg 6: 12) and to others with an important mission in God’s plan. Mary is surprised at the greeting and tries to understand the significance of these words. She is practical. She wants to understand. She does not accept just any invitation.
• The angel answers: “Do not be afraid!” Just as it happened in the visit of the angel to Zechariah, the first greeting of God is always: “Do not be afraid!” Immediately the angel recalls the promises of the past which will be fulfilled thanks to the son who will be born and who is to receive the name of Jesus. He will be called the Son of the Most High and in Him the Kingdom of God will be realized. This is the explanation of the angel in such a way that Mary is not afraid.
• Mary is aware of the mission which she is about to receive, but she continues to be practical. She does not allow herself to be drawn by the greatness of the offer and knows her condition. She examines the offer through criteria which she has available. Humanly speaking, it was not possible: “But how can this come about? I have no knowledge of man.”
• The angel explains that the Holy Spirit, present in God’s Word since the creation (Gen 1: 2), is able to realize things which seem impossible. This is why the Holy One who will be born of Mary will be called Son of God. The miracle repeats itself right up to today. When the Word of God is accepted by us, something new happens, thanks to the power of the Holy Spirit! Something new and surprising such as a son born of a virgin or a son born to a woman of advanced age, like Elizabeth, whom all said was barren, that she could not have children! And the angel adds, “See, your cousin Elizabeth also, in her old age, has conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible with God”.
• The response of the angel clarifies everything for Mary, and she surrenders: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord, may it be done to me according to your word.” Mary uses for herself the title of a servant, Handmaid of the Lord. This title from Isaiah represents the mission of the people not as a privilege, but rather as a service to other people (Is 42:1-9; 49:3-6). Later Jesus will define His mission as a service: “I have not come to be served, but to serve!” (Mt 20:28). He learned from his Mother!
4) Reflection
• What struck you the most in the visit of the angel Gabriel to Mary?
• Jesus praises his Mother when He says: “Blessed are those who hear the Word of God and keep it.” (Lk 11:28). How does Mary relate to the Word of God during the visit of the angel?
5) Concluding Prayer
To Yahweh belong the earth and all it contains,
the world and all who live there;
it is He who laid its foundations on the seas,
on the flowing waters fixed it firm. (Ps 24: 1-2)
Jesus’ witness concerning John the Baptist
Matthew 11:2-11
1. Let us invoke the Holy Spirit
Spirit of God,
who at the beginning of creation
hovered over the abyss of the universe
and transformed the great yawn of things
into a smile of beauty,
come down again on earth
and grant it the thrill of its beginnings.
This world that is growing old,
touch it with the wing of Your glory,
Restore to us the primordial joy.
Pour Yourself without measure on all our afflictions.
Hover once more over our old world in danger.
And, finally, the desert will once more be a garden
and in the garden the tree of justice will flower
and the fruit of justice will be peace.
Spirit of God, who by the banks of the Jordan
descended in Your fullness on Jesus’ head
and proclaimed Him Messiah,
overshadow this portion of the mystical Body
gathered before You.
Adorn it with a robe of grace.
Consecrate it with unction
and invite it to bring the good news to the poor,
to bandage the wounds of broken hearts,
to proclaim freedom to slaves,
release to prisoners
and announce the year of mercy of the Lord.
Free us from the fear of not coping.
May our eyes radiate superhuman transparency.
May our hearts emit courage blended with tenderness.
May our hands pour out the blessing of the Father
on all that we touch.
Grant that our bodies may be resplendent with joy.
Clothe us with nuptial robes.
Gird us with girdles of light,
because, for us and for all, the Bridegroom will not delay in coming.
T. Bello
2. The Gospel text
2 Now John had heard in prison what Christ was doing and he sent his disciples to ask Him, 3 'Are you the one who is to come, or are we to expect someone else?' 4 Jesus answered, 'Go back and tell John what you hear and see; 5 the blind see again, and the lame walk, those suffering from virulent skin-diseases are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life and the good news is proclaimed to the poor; 6 and blessed is anyone who does not find Me a cause of falling.' 7 As the men were leaving, Jesus began to talk to the people about John, 'What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed swaying in the breeze? No? 8 Then what did you go out to see? A man wearing fine clothes? Look, those who wear fine clothes are to be found in palaces. 9 Then what did you go out for? To see a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and much more than a prophet: 10 he is the one of whom scripture says, Look, I am going to send my messenger in front of you to prepare your way before you. 11 'In truth I tell you, of all the children born to women, there has never been anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of Heaven is greater than he.
3. Let us pause and read the Gospel text again
- Let us whisper quietly the words of the Gospel and let them slowly pass from our tongue to our mind and from our mind to our heart.
Let us quietly savor some of these words…
- We are gathered around Jesus and we are listening to what the disciples are asking of Him concerning John: this is a serious question from those who have the power to change history.
- Jesus’ answer takes on a staid tone, but it wounds our heart as with a spear: it is clear that the awaited Messiah is Himself!
- Let the questions, doubts, desires and hopes run freely around the Word of Jesus. Let them confront and engage with it.
Gradually an answer will come, even though it may be partial: not in the arguments, but when looking squarely at “He who is to come” and who is speaking to you now. Do not weary of repeating his Word in a soft voice and of keeping it in your heart, above and within all the doubts and problems of your day.
4. Let us take a closer look at Matthew’s text
= Our passage comes at the beginning of a new section of the Gospel (11: 2–12, 50). This is a series of tales concerning Jesus’ activity after His discourse on the apostolate. There are not many miracles, but the Evangelist stresses the polemic between Jesus and His adversaries in growing intensity for the whole of the rest of the Gospel.
In all probability, the text reflects the early theological debates between the Christians and the disciples of John concerning the nature of Jesus’ mission.
= John in his prison…: It is a long time since Matthew has made reference to the Baptizer (the last mention is in 4: 12) and now he tells us he is in prison and it is only later that he will tell us the circumstances of his imprisonment (14:3-12).
* John’s prison, as it was for all, is a place apart, a kind of “world apart” which makes him almost a stranger to normal life and twists the perception of news received from outside. Thus, the question of the Baptizer is not surprising even though he was the first to recognize Jesus as “more powerful” (3:11) and as the eschatological judge whose “winnowing-fan is in his hand” (3:12), bowing before Him humbly and in fear (cf. 3:11).
= [When he] had heard what Christ was doing…: the expression “Christ was doing”, used here to recall what Jesus was doing, anticipates the answer He will give to John’s question.
* John the Baptist, while in prison, hears news of Jesus: we too every day, while we are in our “prisons” of solitude and distance from God or of suffering, hear “something” that comes from various sources and we feel troubled.
It is often difficult to distinguish between the good news of the Gospel and so many other matters that take place in our daily lives!
And yet, what Jesus does are the things that “the Christ does”, even if we are not always aware of this, just as in the case of John.
= Are you the one who is to come, or have we got to wait for someone else? When John was baptizing whole crowds in the Jordan, he had described a strong Messiah who would punish severely the sins of all: “The one who follows me is more powerful than I am, and I am not fit to carry His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing-fan is in His hand. He will clear his threshing-floor and gather His wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn in a fire that will never go out” (Mt 3:11-12). In that severity that cracked like a whip in view of conversion and, thus, of salvation, John had read the seal of the mercy of YHWH. Suffering in prison, made fragile by a sense of failure and powerlessness, victim of the injustice and arrogance against which he had fought all his life, it seemed to John that evil was winning and he is upset. Immersed irreversibly in that fog, he is no longer capable of seeing clearly the power of God in action in the works of Jesus.
* It is lawful to speculate: Jesus was revealing Himself gradually as the Messiah, but He did so by breaking the canons of the Jewish ideal and the usual interpretations of Sacred Scripture: He was not “doing justice”, he was not separating the good from the bad like the sieve separates the good wheat from the chaff; He preached conversion energetically but pardoned sinners; He showed Himself to be “meek and humble of heart” (Mt 11:29), open and available to all, a stranger to all vulgar ways of contesting the system. It is, therefore, possible to think that John was in crisis because Jesus did not correspond to the Messiah whom he expected and whom he had constantly preached; so, he sends a delegation to Jesus to ask Him some questions and for them to report to him a word that might enlighten this mystery of contradictions: “Who are You, Jesus? What do You say of Yourself? How can we believe in You when before arrogance and injustice You show Yourself as a patient, merciful and non- violent Messiah?”
Who of us has not tried to form a more precise idea of the One in whom we believe and His ways of acting, when life has made us meet so many contradictions and injustices, even in the Church? Who of us has not struggled to see and interpret correctly the signs of the active presence of the Lord in our own history? It is difficult to welcome a God who is “different” from our designs and so we must not accuse the Baptist, because we too are subject to the temptation of wanting God to have our feelings and tendencies and who might even be a little vindictive in carrying out “justice”. Often we would like to have a God made in our image and likeness, but “My thoughts are not your thoughts, your ways are not My ways…” (Isa 55:8).
= Jesus answered, Go back and tell John what you hear and see: Jesus does not answer quickly and directly, but shows clearly the facts that result from His actions that are changing history and realizing the old prophecy concerning the Messiah. Thus, He does not give an answer “for immediate use”, but the disciples must go back to John and refer to him what they themselves have heard and seen, because the healings, resurrections and liberations are unequivocal signs of the messianic nature of Jesus of Nazareth.
Every day we must learn to proclaim the good news beginning from what we feel and see. Fraternal witness is indispensable to communicate the Gospel.
* Christ submits humbly to the questioning and answers showing the disciples of John a true and personal method of understanding and of proclaiming: "Go back and tell John what you hear and see". The fourth Evangelist recalls the same method in his first letter: “Something which has existed since the beginning that we have heard, and we have seen with our own eyes; that we have watched and touched with our hands: the Word, who is life – this is our subject. That life was made invisible: we saw it and we are giving our testimony, telling you of the eternal life which was with the Father and has been made visible to us. What we have seen and heard we are telling you so that you too may be in union with us” (1Jn 1:1-3). This was the missionary method used by the early Church: the method learned from the incarnation of the Word.
A true and efficient proclamation must pass through a simple and modest communication of personal experience: words without fanfare of a life woven by faith.
= The blind see again, and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised to life and the Good News is proclaimed to the poor: In these words, a collection of various quotations from Isaiah (28:18-19; 35:5-6; 42:18; 61:1), we find the core of Jesus’ answer and of our passage. The Lord presents His own works not as judgement and power, but as divine blessing for those of the people in need.
It is significant that the prophetic passages quoted make no reference to leprosy and death that the Evangelist puts into Jesus’ mouth. This emphasizes the newness that Jesus brings to His manner of fulfilling the prophecies concerning the Messiah awaited by Israel
The works of Jesus are great, but He is one of the “little ones” who are His chosen ones, He is one of “the poor of JHWH” who already sees the cross at the end of His journey as man. This is unbearable for anyone expecting a triumphant Messiah. Blessed are they who hear and see with a heart full of faith.
* Indirectly Jesus invited John himself to hear and see what He teaches and does. Thus the last of the prophets might recall and now recognize that what Jesus says and does corresponds to the great messianic prophecies so richly contained in the Old Testament.
This is the mechanism of the “religious memory” without which faith will never be enkindled and, especially, may never survive the blows of scandal that life brings with it: the works of God in the past are the signs of His fidelity to the promises and the pledge of His future works.
Committing ourselves to recall every day the “great things” that God worked for us and in us (cf. Lk 1:49) does not mean falling into sterile reiteration, but gradually bringing the seed of the active grace of God to the very depths of our being, so that it may grow and bear fruit. The Eucharist too is a memorial: it is “the memorial of the Pasch of the Lord”, a living and actual memorial of the salvation offered to each one of us.
= Happy is the man who does not lose faith [is not scandalized]in Me: The word “scandal” comes from the Greek: the “stumbling stone” prepared to strike a person by surprise. Notwithstanding the meaning that we usually attribute to this word, in the Bible “scandal” may be either negative or positive.
Jesus is one who “scandalizes” His fellow citizens by His poor origins not well suited to a glorious Messiah; He scandalizes the Pharisees with His cutting words; He scandalizes the disciples of John with His way of doing things not according to foreseen plans and He scandalizes His own disciples with His infamous death.
Jesus, however, does not praise those who scandalize the little ones or those who are an occasion of scandal (cf. Mt 5:29) to the faith or morals thus leading others into wrong ways.
The kind of scandal we need is the one that comes from living the Gospel in a radical manner that shakes us from our habits of life and from our mind-set.
We too are called to “scandalize” the world with the scandal of the Gospel showing by our lives that we must not submit to uses and customs that are at variance with the Christian faith, by refusing compromises that could provoke injustices, by looking after the poor and the least.
= What did you go out into the wilderness to see?: Notwithstanding the weakness shown by the questions put by John, Jesus describes His precursor with enthusiasm as a prophet who by his burning words unites the living and incontestable signs of his privileged connection with God in whose name he speaks to the People. Rather, with this pressing series of six rhetorical questions and three positive statements, Jesus says that John is more than a prophet: he is the one of whom the ancient Scriptures of the fathers speak, the messenger who prepares the way of the Lord (Mt 3:3) as the old prophets had said (Mal 3:1; Ex 23:20). Nevertheless, the Lord quickly explains the reasons for His affirmation: these may even be too evident to His listeners.
= Of all the children born of women, a greater than John the Baptist has never been seen: John is not only an eminent prophet and precursor of the Messiah (because it is now clear that Jesus considers Himself as such), but he is also great as a man, greater than his contemporaries and those of past ages. This is an entirely personal kind of praise that Jesus addresses to Herod’s prisoner and not merely a hyperbole. With these words, Jesus anticipates the comparison between John the Baptist and Elijah, which He will make explicit in verse 14: “he, if you will believe me, is the Elijah who was to return”.
* The expression “of all the children born of women” has a typically Semitic flavor, but it also alludes to the mystery of Jesus’ origin: He too is “born of woman”, but only in what concerns the flesh, because His human-divine genesis goes well beyond His simple humanity.
Our birth as “children of God” in faith is also wrapped in mystery: “who were born not out of human stock or urge of the flesh or will of man but of God himself” (Jn 1: 13). We are “born of woman” but we are not meant for this earth, rather for the Kingdom of heaven where we shall be judged according to our faith and the works of faith, fruits of the welcome we give to our baptismal grace.
= Yet the least …: this part of the sentence (perhaps an early gloss) seems to put a limit on the enthusiastic presentation of the Baptist. Although he is great among men, yet John is small in the Kingdom, because there everything is measured according to criteria quite different from those on earth: the measure of the new times that are coming and have begun with the human coming of the Son of God. Those who belong to this completely new generation are greater than any of those who lived in preceding times, even than John the Baptist.
* The contrast between “great” and “small” is created precisely to make it clear to all believers that to be great one has to become ever smaller. In his human “greatness”, John is presented by Jesus as the least in the Kingdom and thus even for John it is necessary for him to “become small” in the hands of God. It is the same requirement every day for each of us who are tempted to be like the “great” and “powerful”, at least in our desire!
5. Let us pray the Word and thank the Lord
God of our joy, giver of every salvation (Psalm 146)
Yahweh keeps faith for ever,
gives justice to the oppressed,
gives food to the hungry;
Yahweh sets prisoners free.
Yahweh gives sight to the blind,
lifts up those who are bowed down.
Yahweh protects the stranger,
He sustains the orphan and the widow.
Yahweh loves the upright,
but He frustrates the wicked.
Yahweh reigns for ever,
Your God, Zion, from age to age.
6. From the Word to contemplation
Lord Jesus
who “are about to come”,
do not delay any more
and listen to the cry of the poor
who look to You for
salvation, justice and joy.
Grant us clear eyes and a pure heart
so that we may be able to discern
Your active and fruitful presence
also in the events
of our “today”
that looks so grey
and empty of rays of hope!
Come, Lord Jesus!
"The Spirit and the bride say: 'Come!'.
And those who listen repeat: 'Come!'.
Let those who thirst, come;
those who wish may draw the water of life freely.
He who bears witness to these things says:
'Yes, I shall come soon!'.
Amen.
Come, Lord Jesus.” (Rev 22:17,20)
2nd Week of Advent
1) Opening prayer
God of power and mercy,
open our hearts in welcome.
Remove the things that hinder us from receiving Christ with joy,
so that we may share His wisdom
and become one with Him
when He comes in glory,
for He lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
2) Gospel Reading - Matthew 11:28-30
“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy and my burden light.”
3) Reflection
• Certain texts of the Gospel reveal their significance to us when we place them in the background of the Old Testament. This is how the very brief and very beautiful text of the Gospel of today is. In this text there are echoes of two themes greatly loved and recalled by the Old Testament, one from Isaiah and the other one from the so called Wisdom Books.
• Isaiah speaks of the Messiah, the Servant, and represents him as a disciple who is always looking for a word of comfort so as to be able to encourage those who are discouraged: “The Lord has given me a learned tongue, for me to know how to give a word of comfort to the weary. Morning by morning, he awakens my ear that I may hear him as a master” (Is 50: 4). And the Messiah Servant launches an invitation: “Oh, come to the water all you who are thirsty; though you have no money come! Buy and eat; come buy wine and milk without money, free” (Is 55: 1). These texts were present in the memory of the people. They were like the songs of our childhood. When people listened to them, there is nostalgia. The same with the words of Jesus: “Come to me!” revived the memory of the nostalgic echo of those beautiful texts of Isaiah.
• The Books of Wisdom represent the divine wisdom as a woman, a mother who transmits to her sons her wisdom and tells them: “Buy her without money, put your necks under her yoke, let your souls receive instruction. She is near, within your reach. See for yourselves; how slight my efforts have been to win so much peace” (Si 51:25-27). Jesus repeats this same phrase: “You will find rest!”.
• Because of His way of speaking to people, Jesus awakens their memory and thus their hearts rejoiced and said: “The Messiah, so greatly awaited for, has come!” Jesus transformed the nostalgia into hope. He made people advance a step forward. Instead of fixing themselves on the image of a glorious Messiah, king and dominator, taught by the scribes, the people changed their opinion and accepted Jesus, Messiah Servant. A humble and meek Messiah, welcoming and full of tenderness, who made them feel at ease: the poor together with Jesus.
4) Personal questions
• Is the Law of God a light yoke which encourages me, or is it a weight which gets me tired?
• Have I felt sometimes the lightness and the joy of the yoke of the Law of God which Jesus has revealed to us?
5) Concluding Prayer
Bless Yahweh, my soul,
from the depths of my being, His holy name;
bless Yahweh, my soul,
never forget all his acts of kindness. (Ps 103)
John the Baptist’s proclamation in the desert
Matthew 3:1-12
1. Opening prayer
Lord Jesus, send Your Spirit that I may learn to be small like Zaccheus, small in moral stature, but also grant me strength to lift myself a little from the earth, urged by the desire to see You passing during this time of Advent, to know You and to know that You are there for me. Lord Jesus, good master, by the power of Your Spirit, arouse in our hearts the desire to understand Your Word that reveals the saving love of the Father.
2. Read the Word
1 In due course John the Baptist appeared; he proclaimed this message in the desert of Judaea, 2 'Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is close at hand.'
3 This was the man spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, ‘A voice of one that cries in the desert, “Prepare a way for the Lord, make his paths straight.”’
4 This man John wore a garment made of camel-hair with a leather loin-cloth round his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5 Then Jerusalem and all Judaea and the whole Jordan district made their way to him, 6 and as they were baptized by him in the river Jordan they confessed their sins.
7 But when he saw a number of Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism he said to them, 'Brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming retribution? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance, 9 and do not presume to tell yourselves, "We have Abraham as our father," because, I tell you, God can raise children for Abraham from these stones. 10 Even now the axe is being laid to the root of the trees, so that any tree failing to produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown on the fire.
11 I baptize you in water for repentance, but the one who comes after me is more powerful than I, and I am not fit to carry his sandals; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing-fan is in his hand; he will clear his threshing-floor and gather his wheat into his barn; but the chaff he will burn in a fire that will never go out.'
3. A moment of silent prayer
Each one of us is full of questions in our hearts for anyone who listens to us, but above all we need to listen, knowing that it is Jesus who is speaking to us. Allow yourself to be led to your interior self where the Word echoes in all its weight of truth and love, in all its therapeutic and transforming power. Prayerful silence demands that we remain “inside”, that we stand completely at the feet of the Lord and use all our energy to listen to Him alone. Stop and listen.
4. To understand the Word
a) The manner in which the plot of the passage is expressed:
In this Sunday of Advent we are presented with the figure of John the Baptist, a challenging personality, as Jesus once said about John the Baptist in describing his personality: “What did you go out to see, a reed blowing in the wind?” (Mt 1:7). The profile of the Baptist that the liturgy puts before us is in two main sections: 3:1-6, the figure and activities of John; 3:7-12, his preaching. Within these two sections we may detect smaller matters that define the expression of this text. In 3:1-2 John is presented as the one who preaches «repentance» because «the kingdom of heaven is close at hand». This cry is like a thread running through the whole of John’s activity and is repeated in 3:8,12. The reason for this call to repentance is given as the imminent judgement of God which is compared to the cutting of every dry tree to be thrown into the fire to be burnt (3:10) and to the winnowing done by farmers on the threshing-floor to separate the wheat from the chaff which is also to be burnt in the fire (3:12). The image of fire which characterizes the last part of our liturgical passage shows the urgency of preparing oneself for the coming of God’s judgement.
The text presents the following:
Matthew 3:1-3: in this first small part «the voice crying in the desert» of Isaiah 40:2 is identified with the voice of the Baptist who invites all to repentance «in the desert of Judea»;
Matthew 3:4-6: there follows a brief section which, in a picturesque manner, describes the traditional figure of John: he is a prophet and an ascetic; because of his prophetic identity he is compared to Elijah; indeed he dresses like the Tishbite prophet. A geographical and special detail describes the movement of many people who come to receive the baptism of immersion in the waters of the Jordan, in a penitential atmosphere. The influence of his prophetic activity is not limited to one place but embraces the whole region of Judea including Jerusalem and the area around the Jordan.
Matthew 3:7-10: a special group of people comes to John to receive baptism, these are the «Pharisees and Sadducees». John addresses them with harsh words that they may stop their false religiosity and pay attention to «bearing fruit» so that they may avoid a judgement of condemnation.
Matthew 3:11-12: here the meaning of the baptism in relation to repentance is made clear and especially the difference between the two baptisms and the two protagonists: the baptism of John is with water for repentance; the baptism of Jesus “the more powerful who comes after” John, is with the Spirit and fire.
b) The message of the text:
In a typical biblical-narrative style, Matthew presents the figure and activity of John the Baptist in the desert of Judea. The geographical indication is meant to situate the activity of John in the region of Judea, whereas Jesus will carry out his activity in Galilee. For Matthew, the activity of John is entirely oriented towards and subject to “the one who is to come”, the person of Jesus. Also John is presented as a great and courageous preacher who foretells the imminent judgement of God.
The message of the Baptist consists of a precise imperative, “repent” and an equally clear reason: “for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand”. Repentance is foremost in the Baptist’s preaching even though at first its content is not yet clear. In 3:8, however, the fruits of repentance are revealed to give new direction to one’s existence. Such a revelation, on the one hand, is typical of prophets who wanted to make repentance as concrete as possible through a radical detachment from whatever until now was held as valuable; on the other hand, the revelation goes beyond and means to show that repentance is a turning towards “the kingdom of heaven”, towards something new which is imminent, together with its demands and prospects. It is a matter of giving a decisive turn to life in a new direction: the “kingdom of heaven” is the foundation and gives meaning to repentance and not just any human efforts. The expression “kingdom of heaven” says that God will reveal Himself to all and most powerfully. John says that this revelation of God is imminent, not distant.
The prophetic activity of John, with the characteristics of the figure of Elijah, is meant to prepare his contemporaries for the coming of God in Jesus. The motifs and images through which the figure of the Baptist is interpreted are interesting, among them the leather loin-cloth around his waist, sign of recognition of the prophet Elijah (2 Kings 1:8); the garment made of camel hair is typical of the prophet according to Zacharias 13:4. This is a direct identification between the prophet Elijah and John. This interpretation is obviously an answer of the Evangelist to the objection of the Jews of the time: how can Jesus be the Messiah, if Elijah has not yet come?
Through his prophetic activity, John succeeds in moving whole crowds just as Elijah had led back the whole people to faith in God (1 Kings 18). John’s baptism is not important because of the great crowds that come to receive it, but because it is accompanied by precise commitments of repentance. Besides, it is not a baptism that has the power to forgive sins. Only the death of Jesus has this power. However, it presents a new direction to give to one’s life.
Even the «Pharisees and Sadducees» come to receive it, but they come in a hypocritical spirit, with no intention of repenting. Thus they will not be able to flee God’s judgement. John’s invective towards these groups, covered in false religiosity, emphasizes that the role of his baptism, if received sincerely with the decision to change one’s life, protects whoever receives it from the imminent purifying judgement of God.
How will such a decision of repentance become evident? John does not give precise indications as to content, but limits himself to showing the motive: to avoid the punitive judgement of God. We could say that the aim of repentance is God, the radical recognition of God, directing in an entirely new way one’s life to God.
Yet the «Pharisees and Sadducees» are not open to repentance in so far as they place their faith and hope in being descendants of Abraham: because they belong to the chosen people, they are certain that God, by the merits of the father, will give them salvation. John questions this false certainty of theirs by means of two images: the tree and the fire.
First, the image of the tree that is felled: in the OT this refers to God’s judgement. A text from Isaiah describes it thus: «Behold the Lord, God of hosts, who tears the branches with deafening noise, the highest tips are cut off, the peaks are felled». The image of the fire has the function of expressing the “imminent anger” which will be manifested at God’s judgement (3:7). In a word, they show the pressing imminence of God’s coming; the listeners must open their eyes to what awaits them.
Finally, John’s preaching contrasts the two baptisms and the two persons: John and the one who is to come. The substantial difference is that Jesus baptizes with the Spirit and fire whereas John only with water, a baptism for repentance. This distinction emphasizes that the baptism of John is entirely subordinate to the baptism of Jesus. Matthew notes that the baptism with the Spirit has already taken place, namely in Christian baptism, as told in the scene of Jesus’ baptism, whereas baptism with fire must still come and will take place at the judgement that Jesus will perform.
The aim of John’s preaching, then, is to present a description of the judgement that awaits the community through the image of the chaff. The action of the farmer on the threshing-floor when he cleans the wheat from the chaff will also be the action of God on the community at the judgement.
5. A meditation
a) Expecting God and repentance:
In his preaching John reminds us that the coming of God in our lives is always imminent. He also invites us strongly to a repentance that purifies the heart, renders it ready to meet Jesus who comes into the world of men and women and opens it to hope and universal love.
An expression of St. John Henry Newman may help us understand this new direction that the Word of God suggests is urgent: «Here on earth to live is to change and to be perfect is to have changed frequently». To change is to be understood from the point of view of repentance: an intimate change of heart. To live is to change. If ever this urge to change grows dim, you would no longer be alive. The book of the Apocalypse confirms this when the Lord says: “You are reputed to be alive yet are dead” (3:1). Again, “to be perfect is to change frequently”. It seems that St. John Henry Newman wanted to say: «Time is measured by my repentance”. This time of Advent too is measured through the project that God has for me. I must constantly open myself, be ready to allow myself to be renewed by Him.
b) Accepting the Gospel:
This is the condition for repentance. The Gospel is not only a collection of messages, but a Person who asks to enter into your life. Accepting the Gospel of this Sunday of Advent means opening the door of one’s own life to the one whom John the Baptist defined as more powerful. This idea was expressed well by John Paul II: “Open the doors to Christ…” Accept Christ who comes to me with His firm word of salvation. We recall the words of St. Augustine, who used to say, “I fear the Lord who passes by”. Such a passing by of the Lord may find us at a time of life when we are distracted or superficial.
c) Advent – a time for interior souls:
A mystical evocation found in the writings of Blessed Elisabeth of the Trinity helps us discover repentance as a time and occasion to immerse ourselves in God, to expose ourselves to the fire of love that transforms and purifies our lives: «Here we are at the sacred time of Advent which more than any other time we could call the time for interior souls, souls who live always and in all things “hidden in God with Christ”, at the center of themselves. While awaiting the great mystery [of Christmas]… let us ask Him to make us true in our love, that is to transform us… it is good to think that the life of a priest, like that of a Carmelite nun, is an advent that prepares the incarnation within souls! David sings in a psalm that the “fire will walk ahead of the Lord”. Is not love that fire? Is it not also our mission to prepare the ways of the Lord by our union with the one whom the Apostle calls a “devouring fire”? On contact with Him our souls will become like a flame of love that spreads to all the members of the body of Christ that is the Church”. (Letter to Rev. Priest Chevignard, in Writings, 387-389).
6. Psalm 71 (72)
With this psalm, the Church prays during Advent to express the expectation of her king of peace, liberator of the poor and of the oppressed.
Rule your people with justice
God, endow the king with Your own fair judgement,
the son of the king with Your own saving justice,
that he may rule Your people with justice,
and Your poor with fair judgement.
In his days uprightness shall flourish,
and peace in plenty till the moon is no more.
His empire shall stretch from sea to sea,
from the river to the limits of the earth.
For he rescues the needy who call to him,
and the poor who have no one to help.
He has pity on the weak and the needy,
and saves the needy from death.
May his name be blessed for ever,
and endure in the sight of the sun.
In him shall be blessed every race in the world,
and all nations call him blessed.
7. Closing prayer
Lord Jesus, led by the powerful and vigorous word of John the Baptist, Your precursor, we wish to receive Your baptism of Spirit and fire. You know how many fears, spiritual laziness and hypocrisies reside in our hearts. We know that with Your fan, little wheat would be left in our lives and much chaff, ready to be thrown into the unquenchable fire. From the bottom of our hearts we pray, Come to us in the humility of Your incarnation, of Your humanity full of our limitations and sins and grant us the baptism of immersion into the abyss of Your humility. Grant us to be immersed into those waters of the Jordan that gushed out of Your wounded side on the cross and grant that we may recognize you as true Son of God, our true Savior. During this Advent take us into the desert of nothingness, of repentance, of solitude so that we may experience the love of Spring. May Your voice not remain in the desert but may it echo in our hearts so that our voice, immersed, baptized in Your Presence may become news of love. Amen.
1st Week of Advent
1) Opening prayer
Lord our God,
You never give up on people.
Again and again You want to make
a new beginning with us.
You showed us in Jesus Your Son
the kind of people You want us to be.
As your Spirit rested on Him,
pour out on us the same Spirit
that we may see our mission in life
with Your wisdom and insight
and that we may have the strength
to live as we believe and hope.
Grant us this through Christ our Lord.
2) Gospel Reading - Luke 10:21-24
Just at this time, filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit, He said, 'I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to little children. Yes, Father, for that is what it has pleased You to do. Everything has been entrusted to Me by My Father; and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.'
Then turning to His disciples He spoke to them by themselves, 'Blessed are the eyes that see what you see, for I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see, and never saw it; to hear what you hear, and never heard it.'
3) Reflection
Today’s text reveals the depth of the heart of Jesus and the reason for His joy. The disciples had gone on a mission, and when they return, they share with Jesus the joy of their experience (Lk 10: 17, 21)
• Jesus’ joy comes from seeing the joy of His friends. Listening to their experience , Jesus feels profound joy.
• It is not a superficial joy. It comes from the Holy Spirit. The disciples have shared in Jesus’ mission during their own missionary experience.
• Jesus calls them “ little children”. Who are the “little children? They are the seventy-two disciples (Lk 10: 1) who return from the mission. They are not doctors. They are simple people without education , but they understand the things of God better than the doctors.
• “Yes, Father, for that is what it has pleased You to do!” This is a very serious phrase. It pleases the Father that the little ones understand them. Therefore, if the great of the world want to understand the things of the Kingdom, they should become the disciples of the little ones!
• Jesus looks at them and says “blessed are you!” And why are they happy? Because they are seeing things which the prophets would have liked to see, but did not see. And what will they see? They see the Kingdom in the common things of life such as curing the sick, consoling the afflicted, and expelling evil.
4) Personal questions
• If I take the place of the people: Do I consider myself as belonging to the little ones or the doctors?
• If I take the place of Jesus: What is the basis of my joy, superficial or profound?
• Does being a “little one” versus a doctor imply ignorance is good, or does it question where we place our trust - in our knowledge or in God?
• Do I pray to God as a father with spontaneous prayer as Jesus did here, or is my prayer formal and rigid?
5) Concluding Prayer
“I give You praise, Father,
for although You have hidden these things from the wise
You have revealed them to the childlike." (cf. Lc 10:21)
1st Week of Advent
1) Opening prayer
Lord God, Father of all,
in Your Son Jesus Christ
you invite everyone and all to know and love You
and to live in Your unending peace.
Keep alive in us the zeal
to bring the light of Your truth
and the riches of Your life and love to all,
without any distinction
of race, language or culture.
May everyone on earth come to know You
as the merciful Father of all
through our brother and Savior,
Jesus Christ our Lord.
2) Gospel Reading - Matthew 8:5-11
When He went into Capernaum a centurion came up and pleaded with Him. “Sir,” he said, “my servant is lying at home paralyzed and in great pain.” Jesus said to him, “I will come myself and cure him.”
The centurion replied, “Sir, I am not worthy to have You under my roof; just give the word and my servant will be cured. For I am under authority myself and have soldiers under me; and I say to one man, ‘Go,’ and he goes; to another, ‘Come here,’ and he comes; to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
When Jesus heard this He was astonished and said to those following Him, “In truth I tell you, in no one in Israel have I found faith as great as this. And I tell you that many will come from east and west and sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob at the feast in the kingdom of Heaven."
3) Reflection
Today’s Gospel is a mirror. It reminds us of the words we say during the Mass at the moment of communion: “Lord, I am not worthy that You should enter my house, only say the word and I will be healed”. Looking at this text more closely it suggests the following:
• The person who seeks Jesus is a pagan, a gentile, a soldier of the Roman army, which dominated and exploited the people. It is not merely religion or the desire for God, but rather the need and the suffering which impels him first to seek Jesus, followed by a faith that Jesus could heal. Jesus has no prejudices. He does not demand anything first, He accepts and listens to the request of the Roman centurion.
• Jesus’ answer surprises the centurion because it is beyond his expectation. The centurion did not expect that Jesus would go to his house. He feels unworthy: “I am not worthy”. This means that he considered Jesus a highly superior person.
• The centurion expresses his faith in Jesus saying “say the word and my servant will be cured”. He believes that the word of Jesus is capable of healing. From where does he get this great faith? It comes from his professional experience as a centurion! Because when a centurion gives an order, the soldier obeys. He has to obey. Thus, he believes it is enough for Jesus to say one word, and things will happen according to His word. He believes the word of Jesus has authoritative force.
• Jesus praises the faith of the centurion. Faith does not consist in just accepting and repeating doctrine, but in believing and acting on the word of Jesus.
4) Personal questions
• Placing myself in the place of Jesus: how do I accept and help people of other religions?
• Placing myself in the place of the centurion: what personal experience leads me to believe in Jesus?
5) Concluding Prayer
Come near to me with Your saving power,
let me share the happiness of Your chosen ones,
let me share the joy of Your people. (Ps 106)
The Manifestation of the Son of man:
Beginning of the new times
Beware! It can happen at any time!
Luke 21:25-28, 34-36
1. Opening prayer
Lord Jesus, send Your Spirit to help us to read the Scriptures with the same mind that You read them to the disciples on the way to Emmaus. In the light of the Word, written in the bible, You helped them to discover the presence of God in the disturbing events of Your sentence and death. Thus, the cross that seemed to be the end of all hope became for them the source of life and of resurrection.
Create silence within us so that we may listen to Your voice in Creation and in the Scriptures, in events and in people, above all in the poor and suffering. May Your word guide us so that we too, like the two disciples on the way to Emmaus, may experience the force of Your resurrection and witness to others that You are alive in our midst as source of fraternity, justice and peace. We ask this of You, Jesus, Son of Mary, who revealed the Father to us and sent us Your Spirit. Amen.
2. A reading of Luke 21: 25-28,34-36
a) A key to the reading:
The liturgical text of this Sunday leads us to meditate on Jesus’ discourse on the end of the world. Today, when we speak of the end of the world, reactions are quite varied. Some are fearful. Others are indifferent. Others begin to take life more seriously. Others still, as soon as they hear some terrible news say, “The end of the world is drawing near!” What is your opinion on this matter? How is it that at the beginning of the liturgical year, the first Sunday of Advent, the Church confronts us with the end of history?
Keeping these questions in mind, let us now try to read the text in such a way that it may challenge and question us.
In the course of our reading we shall try to concentrate not on the things that are fearsome, but on those that give us hope.
b) A division of the text to facilitate our reading:
Luke 21:25-26: There will be signs in sun and moon and stars.
Luke 21:27: The Son of Man will come on a cloud.
Luke 21:28: The rebirth of hope in our hearts.
(Luke 21:29-33: The parable of the fig tree).
Luke 21:34-36: An exhortation to watchfulness.
c) The Text:
Jesus said to his disciples: “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on earth nations will be in dismay, perplexed by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will die of fright in anticipation of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
But when these signs begin to happen, stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand. “Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap. For that day will assault everyone who lives on the face of the earth. Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man.”
3. A moment of prayerful silence
that the Word of God may penetrate and enlighten our life.
4. Some questions
to help us in our personal reflection.
a) What did you feel during the reading? Did you feel fear or peace? Why?
b) Did you come across anything in the text that gave you hope and courage?
c) What is it today that encourages people to have hope and to keep going?
d) Why is it that at the beginning of Advent, the Church confronts us with the end of the world?
e) What can we answer to those who say that the end of the world is drawing near?
f) How do we understand the image of the coming of the Son of Man on a cloud?
g) Throughout history, or even today, have there been false messiahs leading people astray? While it is easy to see war and natural disasters, how might one be deceived by a false messiah?
5. A key to the reading
for those who wish to delve deeper into the theme.
I. The context of Jesus’ discourse
The text of this Sunday’s Gospel (Lk 21:25-28,34-36) is part of the so-called “eschatological discourse”(Lk 21:8-36). In Luke’s Gospel, this discourse is presented as Jesus’ reply to a question put to Him by the disciples. Looking at the beauty and greatness of the temple of Jerusalem, Jesus had said: “Not one stone will be left standing!” (Lk 21:5-6). The disciples were looking for more information from Jesus regarding the destruction of the temple, and they asked: “Master, when will this happen and what will be the signs to show that it is about to happen?” (Lk 21:7).
The aim of the discourse: to help discern events.
In Jesus’ time (year 33), many people, when faced with disasters, wars, and persecutions, said “The end of the world is drawing near!” The communities of Luke’s time (year 85) thought the same. During the time of the destruction of Jerusalem (year 70) and the persecution of Christians which had now been going on for 40 years, there were those who said “God is no longer in control of the events of life! We are lost!” Hence the main point of the discourse is that of helping the disciples to discern the signs of the times so as not to be deceived by such sayings concerning the end of the world: “Beware not to allow yourselves to be deceived!” (Lk 21:8). The discourse presents several signs that help us in our discernment.
Six signs to help us discern the events of life.
After a short introduction (Lk 21:5), the discourse proper begins. Jesus enumerates, in an apocalyptic style, the events that can be seen as signs. It is important to remember that Jesus was living and speaking in the year 33, but that the readers of Luke were living and listening to the words of Jesus about the year 85. Many things had happened between the years 33 and 85, for instance: the destruction of Jerusalem (year 70), persecutions and wars were everywhere, along with natural disasters. Jesus’ discourse announces these events as taking place in the future. But the community sees these things in the past, as having already taken place:
First sign: the false messiahs who will say, “It is I! The time is at hand!” (Lk 21:8);
Second sign: war and rumors of war (Lk 21:9);
Third sign: nation will rise against nation (Lk 21:10)
Fourth sign: earthquakes, hunger and pestilence everywhere (Lk 21:11);
Fifth sign: persecution of those who proclaim the word of God (Lk 21:12-19);
Sixth sign: the siege and destruction of Jerusalem (Lk 21:20-24).
When they heard Jesus’ proclamation, the Christian communities of the year 85 might have come to this conclusion: “All these things have come to pass or are in the process of happening! All this is happening according to a plan foreseen by Jesus! Therefore, history is not slipping from God’s hands!” Especially regarding the 5th and 6th signs they could say, “This is what we are experiencing today! We have already reached the 6th sign!” Then comes the question: How many signs are there left before the end comes?
In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus says about all the seemingly very negative things, “These are just the beginning of birth pangs!” (Mk 13:8) Although birth pangs are very painful for a mother, they are not signs of death but of life! They are no reason for fear, but for joy and hope! This way of reading the events brings calm to all. As we shall see, Luke expresses this same idea but in different words (Lk 21:28).
After this first part of the discourse (Lk 21:8-24) comes the Gospel text of the Mass of the first Sunday of Advent.
II. A commentary on the text
Luke 21:25-26: Signs in sun and moon and stars.
These two verses describe three cosmic phenomena: (1) “There will be signs in sun and moon and stars”; (2) “The roaring of the sea and waves”; (3) “The powers of the heavens will be shaken”. In the eighties, when Luke was writing, these three phenomena had not taken place. The communities could say, “This is the seventh and last sign still to come before the end!” At first sight, this seventh sign seems more terrible than the preceding ones, especially since Luke says that men will be fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. In truth, in spite of their negative appearance, these cosmic images suggest something very positive, namely, the beginning of a new creation that will take the place of the old creation (Rev 21:1). It is the beginning of the new heaven and the new earth, proclaimed by Isaiah (Isa 65:17). They usher in the manifestation of the Son of God, the beginning of the new times.
Luke 21:27: The coming of the Kingdom of God and the manifestation of the Son of Man.
This image comes from Daniel’s prophecy (Dan 7:1-14). Daniel says that after the disasters caused by the four kingdoms of this earth (Dan 7:1-8), the Kingdom of God will come (Dan 7:9-14). The four kingdoms all have animal features: lion, bear, panther and wild beast (Dan 7:3-7). These are animal–like kingdoms. They take the life out of life (even to this day!). The Kingdom of God is represented by the figure of the Son of Man, that is, it has human features (Dan 7:13). It is a human kingdom. The task of the Christian communities is to build this kingdom that humanizes. This is the new history, the new creation, in whose realization we must collaborate.
Luke 21:28: A hope that grows in the heart.
In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus says, “This is just the beginning of the birth pangs!” (Mk 13:8) Here, in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus says, “When these things begin to take place, look up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near!” This affirmation shows that the aim of the discourse is not to cause fear but to raise hope and joy in a people suffering from persecution. Jesus’ words helped (and still help) the communities to read events from the point of view of hope. It is those who oppress and exploit the people who must fear. They, indeed, must know that their empire is finished.
Luke 21:29-33: The lesson of the parable of the fig tree.
When Jesus invites us to look at the fig tree, He is asking us to analyze the events taking place. It is as though He was saying, “Learn to read the signs of the times from the fig tree and so you may discover when and where God comes into your history!” Then He ends the lesson of the parable with these words: “Heaven and earth will pass away; but My words will not pass away!” By this very well known phrase, Jesus renews hope and once more alludes to the new creation, which was already taking place.
Luke 21:34-36: An exhortation to watchfulness.
God is always coming! His coming takes place when least expected. It may happen that He comes and that people are not aware of the hour of His coming (cf. Mt 24:37-39). Jesus advises people to be constantly watching: (1) avoid all things that may disturb or burden the heart (dissipations, drunkenness, and worries of life); (2) pray always, asking for strength to go on and wait standing for the coming of the Son of Man. In other words, the discourse asks for a double attitude: on the one hand, the watchfulness of one who is always aware, and on the other, the serene calmness of one who is at peace. These attitudes are signs of great maturity, because they bring together an awareness of the seriousness of the task and an awareness of the relativity of all things.
III. Further information for a better understanding of the text
a) When the end of the world will come
When we say “The end of the world”, what world are we talking about? Is it the end of the world of which the Bible speaks or the end of this world, where the power of evil that drives away and oppresses life reigns? This world of injustice will come to an end. No one knows what the new world will look like, because no one can imagine what God has prepared for those who love Him (1 Cor 2:9). The new world of life without death (Rev 21:4) surpasses all things just as the tree surpasses its seed (1 Cor 15:35-38). The early Christians were anxious and wanted to know the when of this end (2 Thess 2:2; Acts 1:11). But “it is not for you to know the times and the hour that the Father has set with His authority” (Acts 1:7). The only way to contribute to the end is to witness to the Gospel in every moment and action even to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).
b) Our time! God’s time!
“For no one knows the day or the hour: not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Mk 13:32; Mt 24:36). God sets the time for the end. God’s time cannot be measured by the clock or calendar. For God, one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like a day (Ps 90:4; 2 Pet 3:8). God’s time runs independently of us. We cannot interfere with that, but we must be prepared for the moment when the hour of God comes into our time. Our security does not lie in knowing the hour of the end of the world, but in the Word of Jesus present in our lives. The world will pass away, but His word will not pass away (Isa 40:7-8).
c) The context of our text in Luke’s Gospel
For us 21st century people, apocalyptic language seems strange, difficult and confused. But for the people of those times it was the common way of speaking and all understood. It expressed the strong certitude of the faith of the little ones. In spite of all and against all appearances, they continued to believe that God is the Lord of history. The main purpose of apocalyptic language is to foster the faith and hope of the poor. In Luke’s time, many of the people of the communities thought that the end of the world was close at hand and that Jesus would have come back. That is why there were those who stopped working: “Why work, if Jesus was returning?” (cf 2 Thess 3:11). Others stared at heaven, waiting for the return of Jesus on the clouds (cf Acts 1:11). Jesus’ discourse shows that no one knows the hour of the final coming. Today we have the same thing! Some await the coming of Jesus so much that they do not see His presence among us in our daily concerns and events.
6. Psalm 46 (45) (paraphrased)
God is our strength
God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in time of trouble.
Therefore we will not fear though the earth should change,
though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;
though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble with its tumult.
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
God is in the midst of her,
she shall not be moved;
God will help her.
The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
He utters His voice, the earth melts.
The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge.
Come, behold the works of the Lord,
how He has wrought desolation on the earth.
He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
He breaks the bow, and shatters the spear,
He burns the chariots with fire!
"Be still, and know that I am God.
I am exalted among the nations;
I am exalted in the earth!"
The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge.
7. Final Prayer
Lord Jesus, we thank You for the word that has enabled us to understand better the will of the Father. May Your Spirit enlighten our actions and grant us the strength to practice that which Your Word has revealed to us. May we, like Mary, Your mother, not only listen to but also practice the Word. You who live and reign with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.
Easter Time
1) Opening prayer
Lord our God,
your Son Jesus Christ is to us
the way that leads to You and to one another,
the truth that is good news of love and hope,
the life which He sacrificed to give it.
Help us to show the way to Him
and to go His way to one another,
to speak the truth that is encouraging and credible,
to give life by sharing happiness,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
2) Gospel Reading - John 14:1-6
Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be. Where I am going you know the way.” Thomas said to him, “Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
3) Reflection
• These five chapters (Jn 13-17) are a beautiful example of how the communities of the Beloved Disciple at the end of the first century in Asia Minor, which today is Turkey, carried on the catechesis. For example, in chapter 14, the questions of the three disciples, Thomas (Jn 14:5), Philip (Jn 14:8) and Judas Thaddeus (Jn 14:22) were also the questions and problems within the communities. The answers of Jesus to the three of them are like a mirror in which the communities found a response to their doubts and difficulties. To better understand the environment in which the catechesis was carried out, it is possible to do the following. During and after the reading of the text, it is good to close the eyes and pretend that we are in the room in the midst of the disciples, participating in the encounter with Jesus. While we listen, it is necessary to pay attention to the way which Jesus prepares His friends to separate themselves and reveals to them His friendship, communicating to them security and support.
• John 14:1-2: Do not let your hearts be troubled. The text begins with an exhortation: “Do not let your hearts be troubled!” And immediately He adds: “In my Father’s house there are many places to live in!” The insistence on continuing to use encouraging words to overcome troubles and differences is a sign that there were many disagreements among the communities. One would say to the other: “Our way of living the faith is better than yours. We are saved! You live in error: If you want to go to heaven, you have to convert yourselves and live like we do!” Jesus says: “In My Father’s house there are many places!” It is not necessary that everybody thinks the same way. The important thing is that all accept Jesus, the revelation of the Father, and that out of love for Him, they have attitudes of understanding, service and love. Love and service are the basis which unite the bricks and help the diverse communities to become a Church of brothers and sisters.
• John 14:3-4: The farewell of Jesus. Jesus says that He is going to prepare a place and that afterwards He will return to take us with Him to the Father’s house. He wants us to be with Him forever. The return which Jesus speaks about is the coming of the Spirit that He sends and who acts in us, in such a way that we can live as He lived (Jn 14:16-17.26; 16:13-14). John's community feared a delay in His future return and his Gospel is filled with reminders of the Spirit. Jesus ends by saying: “You know the way to the place where I am going!” Anyone who knows Jesus knows the way, because the way is the life that He lived and which led Him through death together to the Father.
• John 14:5-6: Thomas asks which is the way. Thomas says: “Lord, we do not know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answers: “I am the Way, I am Truth and Life! No one can come to the Father except through Me”. Three important words. Without the way we cannot go. Without the truth one cannot make a good choice. Without life, there is only death! Jesus explains the sense. He is the Way, because “No one can come to the Father except through Me”. And He is the gate through which the sheep enter and go out (Jn 10:9). Jesus is the truth, because looking at Him, we see the image of the Father. “Anyone who knows Me knows the Father!” Jesus is the life, because walking like Jesus, we will be united to the Father and we will have life in us!
4) Personal questions
• In the context and with knowledge of the last few days' Gospels, how do we go to the Father through Jesus? What is involved?
• Jesus says: “In My Father’s house there are many places”. How would you interpret this today? How would you interpret this relative to ecumenism? Or within Church doctrine?
5) Concluding Prayer
Sing a new song to Yahweh,
for He has performed wonders,
His saving power is in His right hand and His holy arm. (Ps 98:1)
Easter Time
1) Opening prayer
All-powerful God,
Your Son Jesus reminds us today
that we are no greater than Your and our servant,
Jesus, our Lord and master.
Give us the love and endurance
to serve You and people
without waiting for awards or gratitude
and to accept the difficulties and contradictions
which are part of the Christian life
and which are normal for followers
of Him who bore the cross for us,
Jesus Christ our Lord.
2) Gospel Reading - John 13:16-20
When Jesus had washed the disciples' feet, he said to them: "Amen, amen, I say to you, no slave is greater than his master nor any messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you understand this, blessed are you if you do it. I am not speaking of all of you. I know those whom I have chosen. But so that the Scripture might be fulfilled, The one who ate my food has raised his heel against me. From now on I am telling you before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe that I AM. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me."
3) Reflection
• Beginning today, every day for several weeks, except on feast days, the Gospel of each day is taken from the long conversation of Jesus with the disciples during the Last Supper (Jn 13 to 17). In these five chapters which describe the farewell of Jesus, the presence of those three threads which we had spoken before is seen. Those threads knit and compose the Gospel of John: the word of Jesus, the word of the community and the word of the Evangelist who writes the last redaction of the Fourth Gospel. In these chapters, the three threads are intertwined in such a way that the whole is presented as a unique fabric or cloth with a rare beauty and inspiration, where it is difficult to distinguish what is from one and what is from the other, but where everything is the Word of God for us.
• These five chapters present the conversation which Jesus had with His friends on the evening when He was arrested and put to death. It was a friendly conversation, which remained in the memory of the beloved disciple. Jesus seems to want to prolong this last encounter, this moment of great intimacy. The same thing happens today. There is conversation and more conversation. There is the superficial conversation which uses many words and reveals the emptiness of the person, and there is the conversation which goes to the depth of the heart and remains in the memory. All of us, once in a while, have these moments of friendly living together, which expand the heart and constitute strength in moments of difficulty. They help us to trust and to overcome fear.
• The five verses of today’s Gospel draw two conclusions from the washing of the feet (Jn 13:1-15). They speak (a) of service as the principal characteristic of the followers of Jesus, and (b) the identity of Jesus as the revelation of the Father.
• John 13:16-17: The servant is not greater than his master. Jesus has just finished washing the feet of the disciples. Peter becomes afraid and does not want Jesus to wash his feet. “If I do not wash you, you can have no share with Me” (Jn 13:8). It is enough to wash the feet; there is no need to wash the rest (Jn 13:10). The symbolic value of the gesture of the washing of the feet consists in accepting Jesus as Messiah Servant, who gives Himself for others, and to reject a Messiah as glorious king. This gift of self, servant of all, is the key to understanding the gesture of the washing of the feet. To understand this is the root of the happiness of a person: “Knowing these things, you will be blessed if you put them into practice”. But there were some people, even among the disciples, who did not accept Jesus in this role. They did not want to be the servants of others. They likely wanted a glorious Messiah, king and judge, according to the official ideology. Jesus says: “I am not speaking about all of you. I know the ones I have chosen. but what Scripture says must be fulfilled: He who shares My table takes advantage of Me!” John refers to Judas, whose betrayal will be announced immediately afterward (Jn 13:21-30).
• John 13:18-20: I tell you this now, before it happens, so that you may believe that I AM HE. It was on the occasion of the liberation from Egypt at the foot of Mount Sinai that God revealed His name to Moses: “I am with you!” (Ex 3:12), “I am who I am” (Ex 3:14). “I Am” or “I AM” has sent me to you!” (Ex 3:14). The name Yahweh (Ex 3:15) expresses the absolute certainty of the liberating presence of God at the side of His people. In many ways and on may occasions this same expression I Amis used by Jesus (Jn 8:24; 8:28; 8:58; Jn 6:20; 18:5.8; Mk 14:62; Lk 22:70). Jesus is the presence of the liberating face of God in our midst.
4) Personal questions
• The servant is not greater than his master, nor any messenger greater than the one who sent him. This is an ultimate statement of humility. As a messenger of the Gospel in the world, do I take credit for my abilities and gifts which come from God and claim them as my own, rather than crediting them to God?
• Jesus knew how to live together with people who did not accept Him. Do I?
• How can I make of my life a permanent service to others?
5) Concluding Prayer
I shall sing the faithful love of Yahweh for ever,
from age to age my lips shall declare Your constancy,
for You have said: love is built to last forever,
You have fixed Your constancy firm in the heavens. (Sal 89:1-2)
Easter Time
1) Opening prayer
Lord our God,
through Your Son Jesus Christ
You assure us that He came
not to condemn us but to bring us life,
a life worth living,
a life that is rich and refreshing us and our world
with love and a spirit of service.
Let Jesus stay with us
as the light in which we see
all that is good and worth living for
and let us share in His life that has no end.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
2) Gospel Reading - John 12:44-50
Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me believes not only in me but also in the one who sent me, and whoever sees me sees the one who sent me. I came into the world as light, so that everyone who believes in me might not remain in darkness. And if anyone hears my words and does not observe them, I do not condemn him, for I did not come to condemn the world but to save the world. Whoever rejects me and does not accept my words has something to judge him: the word that I spoke, it will condemn him on the last day, because I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. So what I say, I say as the Father told me.”
3) Reflection
• Today’s Gospel presents to us the last part of the Book of Signs (from 1 to 12), in which the Evangelist draws up a balance. Many believed in Jesus and had the courage to manifest their faith publicly, but they were afraid to be expelled from the Synagogue and many did not believe: “Though they had been present when He gave so many signs, they did not believe in Him; this was to fulfill the words of the prophet Isaiah: “Lord, who has given credence to what they have heard from us? And who has seen in it a revelation of the Lord’s arm?” (Jn 12:37-38). After this confirmation, John looks back on some of the central themes of his Gospel:
• John 12:44-45: To believe in Jesus is to believe in Him who sent Him. This sentence is a summary of the Gospel of John. It is the theme that appears and reappears in many ways. Jesus is so united to the Father that He does not speak in His own name, but always in the name of the Father. He who sees Jesus, sees the Father. If you want to know God, look at Jesus. God is Jesus!
• John 12:46: Jesus is the light who comes into the world. Here John comes back to what he had already said in the prologue: “The Word was the real light that gives light to everyone (Jn 1:9). “The light shines in darkness, and darkness could not overpower it” (Jn 1:5). Here he repeats: “I have come into the world as light, to prevent anyone who believes in Me from staying in the dark any more”. Jesus is a living response to the great questions which move and inspire the search of the human being. It is a light which enlightens the horizon. It makes one discover the luminous side of the darkness of faith.
• John 12:47-48: I have not come to condemn the world. Getting to the end of a stage, a question arises: “How will judgment be? In these two verses the Evangelist clarifies the theme of judgment. The judgment is not done according to threats, with maledictions. Jesus says, “If anyone hears My words and does not keep them faithfully, it is not I who shall judge such a person, since I have come not to judge the world, but to save the world. Anyone who rejects Me and refuses My words has his judge already: the word itself that I have spoken will be his judge on the last day. The judgment consists in the way in which the person defines himself through his choices and actions in relation to Him.
• John 12:49-50: The Father commanded Me what to say. The last words of the Book of Signs are a summery of everything that Jesus says and does up until now. He reaffirms what He affirmed from the beginning: “For I have not spoken of My own accord, but the Father who sent Me commanded Me what to say and what to speak, and I know that His commands mean eternal life. And, therefore, what the Father has told Me is what I speak.” Jesus is the faithful reflection of the Father. For this reason, He does not offer proofs or arguments to those who provoke Him to legitimize His credentials. It is the Father who legitimizes Him through the works that He does, and in referring to works, He does not refer to great miracles, but to all that He says and does, even the most minute thing. Jesus Himself is the sign of the Father. He is the walking miracle, the total transparency. He does not belong to Himself, but is entirely the property of the Father. The credentials of an ambassador do not come from Him, but from the One He represents. They come from the Father.
4) Personal questions
• John draws up an account of the revealing activity of God. If I made an account of my life, what would reveal the activity of God in me?
• Is there something in me which condemns me?
5) Concluding Prayer
Let the nations rejoice and sing for joy,
for You judge the world with justice,
You judge the peoples with fairness,
You guide the nations on earth.
Let the nations praise You, God,
let all the nations praise You. (Ps 67:4-5)
More...
Easter Time
1) Opening prayer
Lord God, our Father,
the Spirit of Jesus calls us, as He called Your Son,
to abandon our old selves and our old world
to be free for new life and growth.
Forgive us our fear and hesitations,
lead us out of our worn-out phrases and habits,
and our self-made certainties,
steep us in the gospel of Your Son,
that His good news may become credible
in our times and our world.
We ask you this through Christ our Lord.
2) Gospel Reading - John 10:22-30
The feast of the Dedication was taking place in Jerusalem. It was winter. And Jesus walked about in the temple area on the Portico of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, "How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly." Jesus answered them, "I told you and you do not believe. The works I do in my Father's name testify to me. But you do not believe, because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of the Father's hand. The Father and I are one."
3) Reflection
• Chapters one to twelve of the Gospel of John are called “The Book of Signs”. In these chapters we have the progressive revelation of the mystery of God in Jesus. In the measure in which Jesus makes this revelation, adherence and opposition grow around Him according to the idea which each one has of the Messiah. This way of describing the activity of Jesus not only serves to tell how adherence to Jesus took place at that time, but also how this should take place in us today, as His followers and readers. At that time, all expected the coming of the Messiah and they had their criteria of how to recognize Him. They wanted Him to be like they imagined that He should be. But Jesus does not submit Himself to that requirement. He reveals the Father as the Father is and not as His listeners would want Him to be. He asks for conversion in the way of thinking and of acting. Today, each one of us has his/her own likes and preferences. Some times we read the Gospel to see if we find in it a confirmation of our desires. Today’s Gospel presents some light concerning this.
• John 10:22-24: The Jews question Jesus. It was cold; it was Winter (v. 22). It was the Feast of the dedication which celebrated the purification of the temple done by Judah Maccabee (2M 10:1-10). It was a very popular Feast with much light. Jesus was out on the square of the Temple, in the Portico of Solomon. The Jews said: "How much longer are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us openly”. They wanted Jesus to define Himself and that they could verify, according to their own criteria, if Jesus was or was not the Messiah. They wanted some proof. It is the method of one who feels that he dominates the situation. The new ones must present their credentials. Otherwise, they have no right to speak or to act.
• John 10:25-26: Response of Jesus: the works that I do are My witness. The response of Jesus is always the same: “I have told you, but you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name are my witness; but you do not believe, because you are no sheep of mine”. It is not a question of giving proofs. It would be useless. When a person does not want to accept the witness of some one, there is no proof which is valid which will lead the person to change and think differently. The basic problem is the disinterested openness of the person toward God and toward truth. Where this openness exists, Jesus is recognized by His sheep. “The sheep that belong to Me listen to My voice”. Jesus will say these words before Pilate (Jn 18:37). The Pharisees lacked this openness.
• John 10:27-28: My sheep listen to My voice. Jesus repeats the parable of the Good Shepherd who knows His sheep and they know Him. This mutual understanding – between Jesus who comes in the name of the Father and the persons who open themselves to truth – is the source of eternal life. This union between the Creator and the creature through Jesus exceeds every threat of death: “They will never be lost and no one will ever steal them from My hand!” They are safe and secure and, because of this, they are in peace and enjoy full freedom.
• John 10:29-30: The Father and I are one. These two verses refer to the mystery of the union between Jesus and the Father: “The Father, for what He has given Me, is greater than anyone, and no one can steal anything from My Father’s hand. The Father and I are one”. These and other phrases make us guess or have a glimpse at something of the greatest mystery: “Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father” (Jn 14:9). “The Father is in Me and I am in the Father” (Jn 10:38). He is one with the Father in mind, will, and action. This union between Jesus and the Father is not something automatic, but rather it is the fruit of obedience: “I always do what pleases My Father” (Jn 8:29; 6:38; 17:4). “My food is to do the will of the Father” (Jn 4:34; 5:30). The Letter to the Hebrews says that Jesus learned obedience from the things that He suffered (Heb 5:8). “He was obedient until death and death on the Cross” (Ph 2:8). The obedience of Jesus is not a disciplinary one, but rather it was prophetic. He obeys in order to be totally transparent, and thus, to be the revelation of the Father. Because of this, He could say: “The Father and I are one!” It was a long process of obedience and of incarnation which lasted 33 years. It began with Mary’s YES (Lk 1:38) and ended with: “It is all fulfilled!” (Jn 19:30).
4) Personal questions
• Is my obedience to God, disciplinary or prophetic? Do I reveal something of God or am I only concerned about my own salvation?
• Jesus does not submit Himself to the exigencies of those who want to verify if He is the Messiah. Is my faith sufficient or do I ask for “signs” in order to satisfy my belief?
• Am I personally fed by doing the will of the Father? Is this “doing” only on Sunday, or occasionally, or at every moment throughout my day?
5) Concluding Prayer
May God show kindness and bless us,
and make His face shine on us.
Then the earth will acknowledge your ways,
and all nations your power to save. (Ps 67:2-3)
Easter Time
1) Opening prayer
Lord God, our Father,
the Spirit of Jesus calls us, as He called your Son,
to abandon our old selves and our old world
to be free for new life and growth.Forgive us our fear and hesitations,
lead us out of our worn-out phrases and habits,
and our self-made certainties,
steep us in the gospel of Your Son,
that His good news may become credible
in our times and our world.
We ask you this through Christ our Lord.
2) Gospel Reading - John 10:1-10
Jesus said: "Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber. But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice, as he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has driven out all his own, he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice. But they will not follow a stranger; they will run away from him, because they do not recognize the voice of strangers." Although Jesus used this figure of speech, they did not realize what he was trying to tell them. So Jesus said again, "Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly."
3) Reflection
• In Jesus we have the model of the true shepherd. In Him is fulfilled the expectation of the Good Shepherd promised by God: the “Great Shepherd”, greater than Moses (Hb 13:20).
• John 10:1-6: The gate of the sheepfold. In Jn 10:1-10 it is said that Jesus is the “gate” to get to the sheep and to be led to the pastures (10:7.9-10). The image of the gate has several connotations. A gate protects what is inside, the sheep, from the evils outside. The gate is what keeps the sheep in community together inside. The gate is also the way into this community of sheep (the Church).
The theme of the sheep had already been introduced in John 2:15 and in a particular way in 5:2 where it is told that there was a pool with five porticos along which were laid the sick to be healed. In this last context, the sheep indicate the people who were oppressed by their leaders. In Jn 10:1, Jesus links the theme of the sheep to the atrium or inner courtyard of the Temple, the Jewish institution administered by men of power who trampled on the rights, justice and exploited the people. Such individuals were called by Jesus “thieves and bandits”.
Jesus begins His long presentation before the Pharisees, who were closed up in their unbelief and insufficiency (9:40-41), with a general affirmation: the proper way to enter into contact with the sheep is by entering through the gate of the enclosure in which they are kept. Anyone who enters in a different way is not motivated by love for the sheep, but is there to exploit them for his own interest. This is the sin of those who direct the people: to take hold of everything that belongs to all for themselves. Jesus uses the term “thief”. This was precisely the accusation that Jesus addressed to the chief priests of the people during His first visit to the Temple (2:13ss).
Another term that Jesus uses to indicate those who take away from the people what belongs to them is: “bandit”. Such a term indicates those who use violence. Therefore, the chief priests of the Temple oblige the people to submit themselves to the violence of their system (7:13; 9:22). The effect of this is that it produces a state of death (5:3.21.25).
The shepherd enters through the gate to take care of the sheep, not to oppress them or maltreat them. In fact, the sheep recognize his authority (voice) and follow him. The voice of Jesus contains a message of liberation for them that is typical of the Messiah. Besides, His voice is not addressed to an anonymous group of people, but rather calls each one personally. For Jesus, no anonymous crowd of people exists. Each person has a face, a name, and dignity. The Temple (the enclosure of the sheep) has become a place of darkness, characterized only by economic interests; money has replaced the exclusive attention to God: the Temple has become a business or trading house (Jn 2:16).
Jesus leads the people to take them out of darkness. He does not do this in a fictitious way, but in a real way, because this is the work which the Father has entrusted to Him. The fundamental strokes of this mission are: to enter and to call. Those who respond to that call, the call to liberty, become a new community: “Those who are His own”.
• John 10:7-10: Jesus is the new door. Jesus again uses the symbolism of the gate in vv. 7-8: applying it to Himself. He is the new door not only in regard to the old enclosure of Israel represented by the chief priests of the people, but also in regard to those who follow Him. He reminds the first ones of His legitimacy - the only place of access for the sheep because He is the Messiah ready to give His life for the sheep. It is not by domination that one can approach the sheep to have a relationship with them, but rather by the attitude of one who gives his life for them. His words are an invitation to change mentality, the way of thinking, and way of relating.
The entrance through Jesus signifies the good of man as a priority. Anyone who attempts to do the contrary is an oppressor. The reader finds that the words of Jesus addressed to His contemporaries, and in a particular way to the chief priests of the people who have used domination and violence to exploit the people, truly hard and strong.
He is the new gate in regard to every person. But for men and women of today, what does it mean to enter through the door which is Jesus? It implies to “get close to Him”, “to trust Him” (Jn 6:35), to follow Him, and to allow ourselves to be guided by His message (8:31. 51). It means to participating in the dedication of Jesus so that the true happiness of man may be accomplished.
4) Personal questions
• Jesus is the Good Shepherd because He always knows you, but do you recognize him? He is a Shepherd who comes to your life as a door to go out and to enter: do you allow Him to lead you when you relate with others?
• In the world today, are there bad shepherds who exploit those looking to surrender themselves to Jesus as sheep of the fold? Can we discern this by looking at the lives of these so-called shepherds and whether they are profiting from the trust given them?
• Who would you say are proper shepherds today? Do you see the distinction in their lives and their total giving to their sheep (communities) as a way of discernment?
• In your community and in your family are you also a door? Are you a door that is open to guiding others in, are you a door that seeks to protect what is inside, or are you a door which keeps others out and closed off?
5) Concluding Prayer
Lord, send out Your light and Your truth;
they shall be my guide,
to lead me to Your holy mountain
to the place where You dwell. (Ps 43:3)
Easter Time
1) Opening prayer
Faithful God of the covenant,
in the daily choices we have to make
give us the courage to opt always
for Your Son and His ways
and to remain close to Him.
Bless the difficult road we have sometimes to take
without seeing where it will lead us.
Keep us from making half-hearted decisions
when our faith is rather weak
and make us accept all the consequences of our choice.
Keep us always faithful
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
2) Gospel Reading - John 6:60-69
Many of the disciples of Jesus who were listening said, "This saying is hard; who can accept it?" Since Jesus knew that his disciples were murmuring about this, he said to them, "Does this shock you? What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the Spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe." Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe and the one who would betray him. And he said, "For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by my Father." As a result of this, many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer walked with him. Jesus then said to the Twelve, "Do you also want to leave?" Simon Peter answered him, "Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God."
3) Reflection
• Today’s Gospel presents the last part of the discourse of the Bread of Life. It is a question of the discussion of the disciples among themselves and with Jesus (Jn 6:60-66) and of the conversation of Jesus with Simon Peter (Jn 6:67-69). The objective is to show the exigencies of faith and the need for a serious commitment with Jesus and with His proposal. Up until this moment everything took place in the Synagogue of Capernaum. The place of this last part is not indicated.
• John 6:60-63: Without the light of the Spirit these words cannot be understood. Many disciples thought that Jesus Himself was going too far! The celebration of the Passover was coming to an end and He was placing Himself in the most central part of the Passover. For this reason many people separated from the community and no longer went with Jesus. Jesus reacts and says: “It is the Spirit that gives life; the flesh has nothing to offer”. It is here that He describes the impossibility of faith without divine action. It is only with the light of the Holy Spirit that it is possible to get the full sense of everything that Jesus says (Jn 14:25-26; 16:12-13). Paul, in the Letter to the Corinthians will say: “Written letters kill, but the Spirit gives life!” (2 Co 3:6).
• John 6:64-66: Some of you do not believe. In His discourse, Jesus had presented Himself as the food which satisfies hunger and thirst of all those who seek God. In the first Exodus, they have the test at Meriba. Before hunger and thirst in the desert, many doubted of the presence of God in their midst: “The Lord is in our midst, yes or no?” (Ex 17:7) and they complained against Moses (cf. Ex 17:2-3; 16:7-8). They wanted to get away from him and return to Egypt. The disciples fall into this same temptation, they doubt of the presence of Jesus in the breaking of the bread. Confronted with the words of Jesus to “eat My flesh and drink My blood”, many complained like the crowds in the desert (Jn 6:60) and make the decision to break away from Jesus and with the community: “they went away and accompanied Him no more” (Jn 6:66). The term “flesh and blood” is also a common Old Testament reference to life and the living.
• John 6:67-71: Confession of Peter. At the end only the twelve remain with Him. In the face of the crisis produced by His words and His gestures, Jesus turns toward His more intimate friends, represented there by the twelve and says: “Do you want to go away also?” For Jesus it is not a question of having many people following Him. Neither does He change the discourse when the message does not please. He speaks in order to reveal the Father and not to please anyone. He prefers to remain alone, and not be accompanied by people who are not committed to the Father’s plan. Peter’s response is beautiful: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the message of eternal life, and we believe; we have come to know that You are the Holy One of God!” Even without understanding everything, Peter accepts Jesus as Messiah and believes in Him. In the name of the group He professes his faith in the broken bread and in His word. Jesus is the word and the bread which satisfies the new people of God (Dt 8:3). In spite of all his limitations, Peter is not like Nicodemus who wanted to see all things clearly according to his own ideas. But among the twelve there was someone who did not accept the proposal of Jesus. In this more intimate circle there was an enemy (the Devil) (Jn 6:70-71) “he who shares My table takes advantage of Me” (Si 41:10; Jn 13:18).
4) Personal questions
• If I place myself in Peter’s place before Jesus, what response do I give Jesus who asks me: “Do you want to go away also?”
• Today many persons no longer follow Jesus. Whose fault is it?
• Falling away can be like the crowd here. Little by little until there is nothing left. How do we see when we are falling away little by little and what can be done to prevent or reverse it?
• Which situation is worse: One who followed and then fell away, or one who never followed in the first place?
5) Concluding Prayer
Lord, I am Your servant, I am Your servant
and my mother was Your servant;
You have undone my fetters.
I shall offer You a sacrifice of thanksgiving
and call on the name of Yahweh. (Ps 116:16-17)
Easter Time
1) Opening prayer
Our living and loving God,
how could we know the depth of Your love
if Your Son had not become flesh of our flesh
and blood of our blood?
How could we ever have the courage
to live for one another and if necessary to die
if He had not given up His body
and shed His blood for us?
Thank you for letting Him stay in the eucharist with us
and making Himself our daily bread.
Let this bread be the food that empowers us
to live and die as He did,
for one another and for You,
our living God, for ever and ever.
2) Gospel Reading - John 6:52-59
The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his Flesh to eat?" Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my Flesh is true food, and my Blood is true drink. Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever." These things he said while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
3) Reflection
• We are almost at the end of the discourse of the Bread of Life. Here begins the part of the greatest polemic. The Jews close themselves to, and begin to discuss, the affirmations of Jesus.
• John 6:52-55: Flesh and Blood: the expression of life and of the total gift. The Jews react: “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?” The feast of the Passover was close at hand. After a few days everybody would have eaten the meat of the paschal lamb in the celebration of the night of the Passover. They did not understand the words of Jesus, because they took them literally. But Jesus does not diminish the exigencies, He does not withdraw or take away anything of what He has said and He insists: “In all truth I tell you, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Anyone who does eat My flesh and drink My blood has eternal life, and I shall raise that person up on the last day. For My flesh is real food and My blood is real drink. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood lives in Me and I live in that person”. What gives life is not to celebrate the manna of the past, but rather to eat this new bread which is Jesus, His flesh and His blood. Participating in the Eucharistic Supper, we assimilate His life, His surrender, His gift of self. “If you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and you do not drink His Blood you will not have life in you”. They should accept Jesus as the Crucified Messiah, whose blood will be poured out.
• John 6:56-58: Whoever eats My flesh, will live in Me. The last phrases of the discourse of the Bread of Life are of the greatest depth and try to summarize everything which has been said. They recall the mystical dimension which surrounds the participation in the Eucharist. They express what Paul says in the letter to the Galatians: “It is no longer I, but Christ living in me (Ga 2:20). And what the Apocalypse of John says: “If one of you hears me calling and opens the door, I will come in to share a meal at that person’s side” (Rev 3:20). And John himself in the Gospel: “Anyone who loves Me will keep my word, and My Father will love him and We shall come to him and make a home in him” (Jn 14:23). And it ends with the promise of life which marks the difference with the ancient Exodus: “This is the bread which has come down from heaven. It is not like the bread our ancestors ate, they are dead, but anyone who eats this bread will live for ever.”
• John 6:59: The discourse in the Synagogue ends. The conversation between Jesus and the people and the Jews in the Synagogue of Capernaum ends here. As it has been said before, the discourse of the Bread of Life offers us an image of how the catechesis of that time was, at the end of the first century, in the Christian communities of Asia Minor. The questions of the people and of the Jews show the difficulties of the members of the communities. The answer of Jesus represents the clarification to help them to overcome the difficulties, to deepen their faith, and to live more intensely the Eucharist which was celebrated above all in the night between Saturday and Sunday, the day of the Lord.
4) Personal questions
• Beginning with the discourse on the Bread of Life, the celebration of the Eucharist receives a very strong light and an enormous deepening. Does this clarify the role of the Eucharist in my life?
• To eat the flesh and blood of Jesus is the commandment that he leaves. How do I live the Eucharist in my life? Even if I cannot go to Mass every day or every Sunday, my life should be Eucharistic. How do I try to attain this objective?
• Eucharistic Adoration is available in many parishes and highly recommended by Popes St John Paul II, Benedict, and Francis, among others. “In many places, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is also an important daily practice and becomes an inexhaustible source of holiness” (Encyclical Letter: Ecclesia De Eucharistia). Do I take the time to sit and just “be” with Him when I can?
5) Concluding Prayer
Praise Yahweh, all nations,
extol Him, all peoples,
for His faithful love is strong
and His constancy never-ending. (Ps 117:1-2)
