Continuing his teaching following the miracle of the
healing of the paralytic at the pool of Bethesda, Jesus offers some very challenging words to his hard-hearted
audience today. He explains how it
shouldn’t be so difficult to believe in Him, after all John testified to who he
was, his Father testified, his works testified, the scriptures testified.
You know why you don’t believe? Because you are more interested in receiving
praise from others for your good works, than getting to the heart of your
faith--in truly serving God and loving God.
Therefore, he says, “I know that you do not have the love of
God in you.” What terrifying words to
hear from the lips of the incarnate Son of God.
For was it not their greatest commandment to love God with their whole
hearts, minds, and souls? He says, you
fail to love God, because you are more concerned about getting people to praise
you. You have missed the point of faith
and service because you have made them all about you.
What terrifying words!
Yet, Jesus offers an invitation. “Come
to me to have life.”
He calls us away from what is inessential back to what is
absolutely essential: having our hearts set on God before all else: before
fame, before pleasure.
Those Lenten practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving
help us to realign our priorities, to dispose our souls again to all that God
desires for us.
Ash Wednesday was four weeks ago, if you haven’t found
Lent to be challenging perhaps it’s time to enter more deeply into the prayer,
fasting, and almsgiving that we may, as we prayed in the opening prayer “be
corrected by penance and schooled in good works, to persevere sincerely in
God’s commandments and come safely to the paschal festivities” for the glory of
God and salvation of souls.
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