Showing all posts by Elija

Today’s reading (Jonah 3:1–10) is a source of great joy on our Lenten journey. An entire city, along with its king, takes the prophet Jonah’s warning seriously. So there are indeed situations in which people turn from their evil ways. The people of Nineveh did penance when the king issued the proclamation:

“And he made proclamation and published through Nin′eveh, ‘By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; let them not feed, or drink water, but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them cry mightily to God; yea, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence which is in his hands. Who knows, God may yet repent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we perish not?’ When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God repented of the evil which he had said he would do to them; and he did not do it.” (vv. 7–10)

How would people take this today? Can we imagine a prophet arising to warn of an impending catastrophe and actually succeeding in bringing about the complete conversion of a nation, a city, a town, or at least a Catholic parish? How would such a prophet be treated today? He would certainly be ridiculed—and that is to mention only the mildest form of rejection. He would likely be treated like someone who warns of an impending fire but is then blamed for it.

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Our Lenten journey has brought us today to what is known as the “First Sunday of Passion” and draws us ever closer to Holy Week. The confrontations and disputes between the hostile Jews and Jesus continue and grow increasingly aggressive (Jn 8:46–59). We can see that the Lord is faced with stubborn hearts that are simply unwilling to open themselves to the truth.

We had already noted that neither the miraculous healings, nor the resurrection of Lazarus, nor the wisdom that flowed from the Lord’s mouth had managed to convince the Jews. In this context, Jesus utters these words, in which His lament is perceptible: “Which of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? He who is of God hears the words of God; the reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.” (vv. 46–47)

With these words, the Lord gives us the key to understanding why the hostile Jews were so obstinate: they do not come from God, nor are their thoughts, words, and actions guided by Him. That is why they close themselves off more and more the further Jesus leads them into the truth.

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In today’s Gospel (Jn 8:12–20), Jesus, speaking to the Jews, utters words that remain relevant for all time: “I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (v. 12)

These are words that must be deeply internalized—words that illuminate and thus communicate to us the light that is Jesus Himself. The Lord addresses them to the crowd listening to Him, even though He knows they cannot yet fully understand them. With the Pharisees, however, the situation was becoming increasingly tense.

They are repeatedly scandalized by the authority that emanates from Jesus’ words—words meant to reveal to them who He was and to open the way of truth so that they might recognize Him as the Messiah. If they recognised Him as the Messiah, the door would have been opened for them to know more fully God, the Heavenly Father, who had sent Him into the world. When this path is taken, the Holy Spirit can reveal more and more of the truth to us, and our knowledge of God becomes more accurate and broader, and our love for Him grows.

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After reflecting on the figure of St. Joseph as part of our Lenten journey, today we hear, both in the reading (1 Kings 17:17–24) and in the Gospel (John 11:1–45), the account of the resurrection of a dead person. In the first case, it concerns the prophet Elijah, who raises the son of the widow who had taken him in. This miracle fully convinced the widow that Elijah was a prophet: “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth” (v. 24).

Thus, what must follow from such a miracle came to pass: faith in the work of God. In fact, one could say that the resurrection of a dead person is the visible proof that God is the master of life and death, and that only a man who belongs to Him can perform a miracle of such magnitude. Unfortunately, however, not everyone comes to this conclusion, as we must sadly note in various passages of the Gospel.

Today’s Gospel also tells us of the raising of a dead man. In this case, it is Lazarus, whose story is so familiar to us. Prior to today’s passage, the evangelist Saint John tells us that more and more people were coming to believe in Jesus (cf. John 10:42). His witness and the signs He performed were so powerful that those who had not closed their hearts to Him were convinced. And now the great event of Lazarus’s resurrection was added to this.

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On the occasion of the Solemnity of St. Joseph, we will reflect today, in context with our Lenten journey, a little on the one whom God chose to be the foster father of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Mt 1:16,18-21,24ª

Jacob fathered Joseph the husband of Mary; of her was born Jesus who is called Christ. This is how Jesus Christ came to be born. His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph; but before they came to live together she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.

Her husband Joseph, being an upright man and wanting to spare her disgrace, decided to divorce her informally.

He had made up his mind to do this when suddenly the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you must name him Jesus, because he is the one who is to save his people from their sins. ‘When Joseph woke up he did what the angel of the Lord had told him to do: he took his wife to his home.

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