22/03/2023

In the Gospel Jesus tells his listeners what is for them a harsh truth. In their minds he is attacking God by claiming equality with the Lord who is one in being, indivisible and unapproachable except through the Veil and into the Holy of Holies. They want to kill him for he is an affront to God. They feel that it is their duty to protect God. 

Jesus has already told the religious authorities that doing God's will, righteousness, can only come from the heart. They know that he does not hold the priests and pharisees in any awe.The minute detail of the Rabbis' interpretation of the Law is an intolerable burden that can only lead to the hypocrisy for which "pharisee-ism/clericalism" has become a byword. 

But Jesus does not condemn any of us. It is to bring a new form of life into creation that he, Father, Son and Holy Spirit  has walked the highways and byways of Palestine and is now disputing in the Temple. 

In the first reading Isaiah's hope is for a restoration of the material world. He is inspired with God-filled hope for the good life dreamed for in the image of a land "flowing with milk and honey" and also praised in the Psalms. His "Messiah" is the same one that  the first disciples mistakenly thought they had found when first Jesus called them to follow him.

The words John puts into the mouth of Jesus have been written much later than the events. John was with the public mission of Jesus from the first day and had been entrusted by Jesus with the care of his mother. He and his brother, as did all the disciples, missed the literal truth of "My Kingdom is not of this world" but now at the end of his own life and inspired by the Holy Spirit, he is able to order his mixed bag of memories into the coherent discourse that is his Gospel.

Dear Lord,  help me to live knowing that your grace will always save me if my intentions are pure and unselfish. I need great help to follow you to the Cross for our new life flows from your wounds on Calvary. May Mary and all the Saints who are living the promised new life of Heaven continue in their prayers that we on earth and in Purgatory can be forgiven for our past sins and be protected from them for today.