Reflection for FRIDAY, 4th Week of Lent.

By

  Fr. Aloysius Santiago sdb
Director, Social Action Movement, Don Bosco Bidar 

 Reading from the Gospel 

 John 7:1-2, 10, 25-30     

They would have arrested him, but his time had not yet come

Jesus stayed in Galilee; he could not stay in Judaea, because the Jews were out to kill him.

  As the Jewish feast of Tabernacles drew near, after his brothers had left for the festival, he went up as well, but quite privately, without drawing attention to himself. Meanwhile some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, ‘Isn’t this the man they want to kill? And here he is, speaking freely, and they have nothing to say to him! Can it be true the authorities have made up their minds that he is the Christ? Yet we all know where he comes from, but when the Christ appears no one will know where he comes from.’

  Then, as Jesus taught in the Temple, he cried out:

‘Yes, you know me

and you know where I came from.

Yet I have not come of myself:

no, there is one who sent me

and I really come from him,

and you do not know him,

but I know him because I have come from him

and it was he who sent me.’

They would have arrested him then, but because his time had not yet come no one laid a hand on him.

 Reflection on the readings 

It is said that where there is smoke, there could be a fire.

Similarly, when we hear something offensive said about us, we might be offended and the fire of anger starts to burn in us.

But as we take a moment to think about it, when we feel offended by what others say about us, could it be that what they said is not wrong.

Instead, what they said about us could be right, and it is up to us to react or to respond.

In the 1st reading, we heard what the godless say to themselves, with their misguided reasoning.

They insult the virtuous, and even want to put them to the test with cruelty and torture.

But strangely, what the godless say is true, because that is what we say we believe in.

Well, we say that we believe that God loves us, that we are called to do good, that God will protect us and rescue us from the clutches of our enemies.

We even say that the final, and eternal end, of the virtuous, is the reward of happiness with God.

With that being said, then are we prepared to have our faith and love, our gentleness and endurance be put to the test?

Will we still believe that God will look after us and reward us for our faithfulness?

So when we hear challenging things being said about us and about our beliefs, let us respond by bearing witness to God and what He wants of us.

Let us be living witnesses that holiness in life will be rewarded in eternity.


      GOD BLESS YOU

Good morning. Have a nice day.