April
4, 2020
GOSPEL
READING AND REFLECTION
John
11: 45-56
Many
of the Jews who had come with Mary believed in Jesus when they saw what he did;
but some went to the pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. So the chief of priest and the pharisees called together the council. They said," What
are we to do? For this man keeps on performing many miraculous signs. If we let
him go on like this, all the people will believe in him, and as a result of
this, the Romans will come and destroy our holy place and our nation."
Then
one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, " You know
nothing at all! It is better to have one man die for the people than to let the
whole nation be destroyed." In saying this Caiaphas did not speak for
himself, but being the high priest that year, he foretold like a prophet that
Jesus would die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also would die
in order to gather into one the scattered children of God. So, from that day
on, they were determined to kill him. Because of this, Jesus no longer move
about freely among the Jews. He withdrew instead to the country near the
wilderness, and stayed with his disciples in a town called Ephraim. The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and people from everywhere were coming to
Jerusalem to purify themselves before the Passover. They looked for Jesus and,
as they stood in the temple, they talked with one another, "What do you
think? Will he come to the festival?"
POINTS
OF REFLECTION
A.
Faith and Miracles
When
the seed of faith grows within the hearts of the believers, early part of the
gospel, the fruits of the Holy Spirit start to manifest on them. The accounts
of life's happening will appear as series of miracles among those who believe
in Jesus Christ. Take for instance, a man has taken his rest at night lying on
his back and fallen asleep knows nothing until finally awake,
is
a miracle. He does not know exactly what was going on in his system making him
still alive when waking up. Again, this is miracle. God works by keeping the unconscious body function while asleep so that when awake a renewed energy is
achieved. This is one of the many miracles God is doing on us every second, minute,
hours, ..., and decades of our lives. The question is, did we come to
acknowledge it with thanksgiving? Faith my dear brothers and sisters is a
necessary element of miracles to happen. Therefore it is our utmost duty to
acknowledge God with the whole of our being.
B. Responding
to the presence of God
While
many come to believe Jesus because of what he has done, there are those who did
not notice the goodness of his presence like the high priest and the pharisees.
They envy Jesus doing miraculous things and even plan to kill him. This means
that the presence of God is nothing if a man does not allow God to work in him.
In fact according to Saint Augustine " God who created you without you
cannot save you without you." Human must respond to the will of God by
doing his share.
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