The disciples were confused by many things that Jesus said to them, but I doubt they were confused by today’s passage. As we progress through this part of John’s Gospel, we’re getting to the “fish or cut bait” part of Jesus’s ministry. Are you with him, or not?
Most of us have committed sins that are hard enough to utter in the quiet confessional, where we at least have the option of spilling our guts with a screen hiding our faces. There’s at least a pretense of anonymity. Imagine that you are caught doing the worst thing you have ever done, and you are dragged by your arm and denounced to your community.
19 March 2021 Mt 1:16, 18-21, 24a Feast of St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary St. Joseph has a special place in our family. Our Aunt Pat was a Sister of St. Joseph. Her given name was Mildred Patricia, after her mother, but she always went by Pat and didn’t realize that her… Continue reading To Love Like St. Joseph
18 March 2021 John 5:31-42 By Maggie Phillips I’ll be honest, I read and re-read this passage, not quite knowing what to make of it. So I looked at the footnotes, and something leapt out at me. In John 5:39, Jesus says, “You search the scriptures, because you think you have eternal life through them;… Continue reading Catholics Don’t Know the Bible. Or do we?
When reading the Gospel of John, I always feel I am being called to reflect on my life, especially in a spiritual sense. That perhaps my spiritual life is not where it needs to be, and now is the time to get uncomfortable and grow. Well, this is exactly what today’s Gospel reading is requiring each of us to do: read, reflect, get uncomfortable, and act. What better time to do this than in the season of Lent?
In life, it is easy to see matters through “our worldly lenses”. We can start to think that God will follow our formulas and ways of thinking rather than being open to the Lord’s plan. When life doesn’t go our way, we can become anxious, stressed, and even dive into depression. We can push God away. Yet, we’re called to press into God in these moments – into his promises, his embrace, his offer of salvation.
