LENTEN REFLECTION

Message

Love and truth should govern decision-making at our  level  as individuals, communities and nations; otherwise hatred, envy and false reasoning will take  over and lead to wars and killings, persecution of the innocent, and suffering in society. As we enter Holy Week, let’s be with Our  Lord Jesus Christ every step of the way. God  claims us.

Gospel Reading

45 Many of the  Jews therefore, who had come with  Mary  and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him. 46 But some of them went to the  Pharisees and told them what he  had done. 47 So  the  chief  priests  and the  Pharisees called a meeting of the  council, and said, “What are we to do? This man is performing many signs. 48 If we  let him  go  on  like this, everyone will believe in him, and the  Romans will come and destroy both our  holy  place and our  nation.” 49 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at  all! 50 You  do  not  understand that it is better for you  to  have one man die for the  people than to have the whole nation destroyed.” 51 He did not say this on  his own, but  being high priest that year he  prophesied that Jesus was about to  die  for  the  nation, 52 and not  for  the  nation only, but  to gather into  one the  dispersed children of God. 53 So  from that day  on  they planned to put  him  to death. 54 Jesus therefore no  longer walked about openly among the  Jews, but  went from there to a town called Ephraim in the  region near the wilderness; and he remained there with  the  disciples. 55 Now the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the  Passover to purify themselves. 56 They  were looking for Jesus and were asking one another as they stood in the  temple, “What do you  think? Surely he will not  come to the  festival, will he?”

Yes,  Jesus did  go  to  the  Passover festival, in style, with  the  triumphant entry into Jerusalem  (Jn  12:12-19); though  “the  chief  priests and the  Pharisees had given orders that anyone who knew where Jesus was should let them know, so  that they might arrest him” (Jn 11:57).  Let each one of us enter the  Holy Week with  our  entire self,  to be with  our  Lord Jesus Christ every step of the way, and with  Mary  the Great Mother of God, Mother Most Holy.  May  it be  no  longer us who live,  but  Christ who lives in us, as we pray with St Paul (Gal 2:20). The Holy Week is at the centre of cosmic history. It is at the  centre of our  own stories as individuals and communities. if we miss it, we miss who we are  the  core of our  being. God  claims us.

After  raising Lazarus from the  dead, the  plot  to kill Jesus intensified. They  planned to  kill Lazarus too, because people were believing in Jesus because of Lazarus as testimony: “10  So  the  chief  priests planned to put  Lazarus to death as well,  11 since it was on account of him  that many of the  Jews were deserting and were believing in Jesus.” (Jn 12:10-11). Their  hatred and envy were totally unbounded. Jesus retreated to  Ephraim near the  wilderness (Jn 11:54).  He waited for the  appropriate moment, the  right timing for  His death, for  the  hour. Jesus was in charge. His retreat also shows How  Jesus always prayed and was in seclusion before key moments in His life, how he  took  the  disciples aside for moments of intimate instruction. Ephraim was next to the  desert, which is a place of preparation, of being with  God. Ephraim was about 13 miles from Jerusalem.

Meanwhile, the  chief  priests and the  pharisees convene the  Sanhedrin to  discuss the  matter. Their  reasoning is erratic: Jesus is performing many signs; He is popular; Everyone will believe in Him; causing the  Romans to come and destroy the  temple and the  nation; so, it is better for  Him  to  die  so  the  Romans do  not  destroy the temple and the  nation (Jn 11:47-50). As it turns out, Pilate does find  Jesus to  be  a threat and would have released Him; Pilate found no  case against Jesus (Jn 18:38-39). And after Jesus is killed,  the  temple is still eventually destroyed in 70 CE by the Romans, but   not   because of  Jesus;  the   catastrophic Jewish  revolt against  the Romans of 66-74 CE was led by the  high priest, and leaders of the  zealots and other factions. The  historian Flavius Josephus has extensively documented these events in his book The Jewish War.

How then do we take  correct decisions? To take  decisions, we should take  time off to be  alone with  our  Lord  Jesus Christ. We should be  guided by Jesus, the  Light,  the Truth. We  should act  out  of  love. If we  are  not  guided by  love  and truth; wars, conflicts and killings can  quickly erupt, as indeed we see across the world.