Have you ever experienced feeling so down and out? It's like heading for doom and destruction. It seems so hopeless and discouraging, not wanting to go on with life and just succumb to depression and defeat. Today's 1st reading is a prophecy of the plot of trying to put Jesus to death and this is way before the incarnation took place. According to Bishop Sheen the spirit of enmity is not only present when Jesus lived but as long as time endured. There are people who were persecuted and forgotten when they died but the hatred of the world and against Jesus lives on. It is still happening today. This is because He is alive. He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. We should never be discouraged and rather be strong as we are reminded how the only begotten Son of God, the Ruler, Creator and Majestic King of heaven and earth was put to the test, condemned unjustly, tortured, and accepted a humiliating death on a cross all because of God's great love for all of us. We have to be ashamed of the times when we question, complain and even blame God whenever we encounter trials and hardships in life. We should be aware of the reality that we sometimes do things without realizing the repercussions of our actions. Everything starts with something small and may not realize it until we get caught in the web of our wrongdoing. One small sin happens after another without realizing that we've gone a long way and caused our spiritual blindness. No matter what the reasons are let us hold on to God’s purpose although it is not clear or even unknown to us. Let us not be mistaken and blinded but always rely on the hidden counsels of God, recompense of holiness and the reward of the innocent soul. Amen. Hallelujah!
Wisdom 2:1, 12-22
1 The wicked said among themselves, thinking not aright: 12 “Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us; he sets himself against our doings, reproaches us for transgressions of the law and charges us with violations of our training. 13 He professes to have knowledge of God and styles himself a child of the LORD. 14 To us he is the censure of our thoughts; merely to see him is a hardship for us, 15 because his life is not like other men’s, and different are his ways. 16 He judges us debased; he holds aloof from our paths as from things impure. He calls blest the destiny of the just and boasts that God is his Father. 17 Let us see whether his words be true; let us find out what will happen to him. 18 For if the just one be the son of God, he will defend him and deliver him from the hand of his foes. 19 With revilement and torture let us put him to the test that we may have proof of his gentleness and try his patience. 20 Let us condemn him to a shameful death; for according to his own words, God will take care of him.” 21 These were their thoughts, but they erred; for their wickedness blinded them, 22 and they knew not the hidden counsels of God; neither did they count on a recompense of holiness nor discern the innocent souls’ reward.
We may have encountered situations wherein we were not able to plan ahead and totally placed us in a very unexpected, uncertain and insecure position. They just happen suddenly that we have no time to prepare and really caught us off guard. This has caused us to feel at a loss. Just imagine how it feels to be blind not knowing where to go and groping in the dark. But we can be assured that God will rescue us from all distress and deliver us from our troubles. The wickedness and the hatred may persist but let us not lose hope and despair because we have a mighty Savior and Redeemer in our Lord Jesus. This truth stated in today’s psalm reading should keep us going and do exactly what we are told. Amen. Hallelujah!
Psalms 34:17-18, 19-20, 21, 23
R: The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.
16 [17] The LORD confronts the evildoers, to destroy remembrance of them from the earth. 17 [18] When the just cry out, the LORD hears them, and from all their distress he rescues them. (R) 18 [19] The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; and those who are crushed in spirit he saves. 19 [20] Many are the troubles of the just man, but out of them all the LORD delivers him.
Today's gospel is taken from John or the 4th gospel. Its genuineness is affirmed by the whole character of the narrative. The arrangement of this gospel follows historical order of events and portrayed with precision of eyewitness. Even the most minute subsidiary circumstances are mentioned with special concern to determine exactly the time of occurrence. It is accepted as one of chief and historically credible sources of knowledge of the life of Christ. The 4th gospel has a high Christology that emphasizes the Divine aspects of Jesus’ identity compared with low Christology that emphasizes human aspects. John’s belief in the preexistence of Christ is very pronounced. According to Frances Hogan, she believes that it was John the youngest of all the apostles who really wrote the gospel. The person behind the gospel have seen and heard Jesus first hand. He came to Jesus as a teenager and seems to know the heart of Jesus instinctively. It was to John that Jesus gave His mother on the cross. John was taught by God's beloved mother, Mary. The book of John is known as the book of signs. The Book of Signs (Jn 1:19-12:50)
The seven signs are miraculous deeds of Jesus that reveal his true identity. They show Jesus bringing different types of people to believe in Him while at the same time provoking many among the Jews to hostility. The author interprets them for the reader by various reflections, narratives and discourses. Many Jews were provoked to hostility on account of the declarations of Jesus which they could not accept as in today's gospel. Signs and symbols are very important to John as it is to us. God is from above and we are from below. From our human level it is very difficult for us to grasp the meaning of things in our life in relation to God. We have to look beyond the physical and understand them better as we go beyond the surface into its deeper meaning. The same is true in our relationship with God, the more we know about Him the better we understand the things in our life. We can look into the things happening in our life and find meaning in it. It becomes symbolic in a sense that God has communicated to us, making us more inclined to do things that are divine. We should praise and thank God for the perfect example and pattern of Jesus' life that He left for all of us that serve as an inspiration and guide. There is no doubt as to the perfection of our God who knows exactly the time when things are bound to happen for He knows best. Let us just continue to trust His Divine Providence that everything happens for a reason at the appointed hour. Jesus was destined to suffer and die for our sins because He was obedient to the will of God and that same destiny resurrected Him from the dead and now seated at the right hand of the Father reigning in His kingdom forever and ever. May our destiny be to always obey the will of God. Amen. Hallelujah!
John 7:1-2, 10, 25-30
1 Jesus moved about within Galilee; but he did not wish to travel in Judea, because the Jews were trying to kill him. 2 But the Jewish feast of Tabernacles was near. 10 But when his brothers had gone up to the feast, he himself also went up, not openly but as it were in secret. 25 Some of the inhabitants of Jerusalem said, “Is he not the one they are trying to kill? 26 And look, he is speaking openly and they say nothing to him. Could the authorities have realized that he is the Messiah? 27 But we know where he is from. When the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from.” 28 So Jesus cried out in the temple area as he was teaching and said, “You know me and also know where I am from. Yet I did not come on my own, but the one who sent me, whom you do not know, is true. 29 I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me.” 30 So they tried to arrest him, but no one laid a hand upon him, because his hour had not yet come.
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