Friday, March 15, 2002
4th Week of Lent
1st Reading: Wis 2:1, 12-22
Gospel: Jn 7:1-2, 10, 25-30
Jesus went around Galilee; he would not go about in Judea because the Jews wanted to kill him. Now the Jewish feast of the Tents was at hand.
But
after his brothers had gone to the festival, he also went up, not publicly
but in secret.
Some of the people of Jerusalem said, "Is this not the man they want
to kill? And here he is speaking freely, and they don't say a word to
him? Can it be that the rulers know that this is really the Christ? Yet
we know where this man comes from; but when the Christ appears, no one
will know where he comes from."
So Jesus announced in a loud voice in the Temple court
where he was teaching, "You say that you know me and know where I
come from! I have not come of myself; I was sent by the One who is true,
and you don't know him. I know him for I come from him and he sent me."
They would have arrested him, but no one laid hands on
him because his time had not yet come.
Commentary
All over the world, new Christians are preparing for baptism. Today's gospel is a proclamation of the faith we all profess: Christ is our brother: Jesus of Nazareth. Christ is our God: Alpha and Omega. Born of Mary: we know where he comes from. Conceived by the Spirit: we do not know where he comes from. The words of our first reading are as true as ever: "The godless say, 'Let us lie in wait for the virtuous man, since he annoys us and opposes our way of life... He claims to have knowledge of God and calls himself a son of the Lord... Let us test him with cruelty and explore this gentleness of his. ' " Speak up in defense of truth as Jesus did, and you will not run short of opposition. But truth is of God; it has a way of rising again.