Tuesday, March 24, 2015 5th Week of Lent
1st Reading: Num 21:4–9
Gospel: Jn 8:21–30
Jesus said to the Pharisees, “I am going away, and though you look for me, you will die in your sin. Where I am going you cannot come.” The Jews wondered, “Why does he say that we can’t come where he is going? Will he kill himself?”
But Jesus said, “You are from below and I am from above; you are of this world and I am not of this world. That is why I told you that you will die in your sins. And you shall die in your sins unless you believe that I am He.”
They asked him, “Who are you?”; and Jesus said, “Just what I have told you from the beginning. I have much to say about you and much to condemn; but the One who sent me is truthful and everything I learned from him, I proclaim to the world.”
They didn’t understand that Jesus was speaking to them about the Father. So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He and that I do nothing of myself, but I say just what the Father taught me. He who sent me is with me and has not left me alone; because I always do what pleases him.” As Jesus spoke like this, many believed in him.
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the
Assimilated Life
Experience)
Jesus was already nearing his death yet the Jews were still asking who he was. They never got the point even though Jesus had told them he came from above because they were “of this world”. Being “of this world” is different from being “in this world”. The former refers to being attached inordinately to material things to the effect of orbiting outside the grace of God. Being “in this world” refers to being in touch with what is happening. This is relevant and even indispensable to salvation because we need to be in touch with reality so that we can participate better in establishing the kingdom in the “here and now”.
Considering that a lifetime is too short, it is folly to be “of this world”. What’s the point in attaching eternal value to a finite world while losing eternal life in the process? This world is relevant to salvation only when we treat it as a school preparatory to heaven. A lifetime is like school-time meant to educate us to the language of heaven which is rooted in forgiveness. Those who fail to learn how to forgive will not feel at home in heaven. Heaven anyway will feel like hell to those who cannot forgive. This reason is elemental. Since heaven is open even to worst sinners who repent, one is likely to find in heaven the enemies he failed to forgive during his lifetime. If one fails to get the point, probably it is because he too is “of this world”. – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email: dan.delosangeles@gmail.com. Website: www.frdan.org.
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