Gospel:
John 8:21-30
Jesus
said to the Pharisees: “I am going away and you will look for me, but you will
die in your sin. Where I am going you cannot come. So the Jews said, “He is not
going to kill himself, is he, because he said, ‘Where I am going you cannot
come’? He said to them, “You belong to what is below, I belong to what is
above. You belong to this world but I do not belong to this world. That is why
I told you that you will die in your sins. For if you do not believe that I AM,
you will die in your sins. So they said to him, “Who are you? Jesus said to
them, “What I told you from the beginning. I have much to say about you in
condemnation. But the one who sent me is true, and what I heard from him I tell
the world. They did not realize that he was speaking to them of the Father. So
Jesus said to them, When you lift up the
Son of Man then you will realize that I AM, and that I do nothing on my own but
I say only what the Father taught me. The one who sent me is with me. He has not
left me alone, because I always do what is pleasing to him. Because he spoke
this way, many came to believe in him.
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Reflection:
What is
the barrier that prevents us to be with Jesus? It’s our sinfulness and unfaithfulness
to Him. Whenever we sin we put barrier that divides us from Jesus the more we
sin the more barriers that we create that separates us from Jesus.
But we
also know that this separation is not permanent because through our humble
submission to the Sacrament of Reconciliation we allow Jesus to reach out to us
as we reach out to Him also. This is what separates us from the many Pharisees
of Jesus time.
By their arrogance and unbelief they created a
permanent barrier between them and Jesus. This is one of the reason why Jesus
told them (Pharisees), where I am going you cannot come. What then is the key
element for us to be able to go eventually where Jesus is? It’s our humility
and faith in Jesus.
We read
in the first part of the gospel that Jesus is somewhat distant and aloft. Yes,
in His humanity Jesus was perhaps exasperated already with the Pharisees. Who
would not be? They always contradict Him, they always find fault in Him and
they were full of jealousy and unbelief.
Nevertheless
Jesus loved them dearly also the same love and intensity that He gave to His
followers and to us also. Jesus did not sacrifice His life on the cross for
those who only believe Him. He died on the cross for all of us believers,
unbelievers and sinners.
If you
think that because of your sinfulness and unbelief you’re already hopeless and
out of the loop of the love of Jesus. You’re not! You still have hope, you’re
still dearly loved by Jesus who died for you on the cross. Pray to Him and look
up to Him. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
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