Daily Reflection

Daily Gospel Reflection April 4^th 2020

Gospel                                                   JN 11:45-56

Many of the Jews who had come to Mary
and seen what Jesus had done began to believe in him.
But some of them went to the Pharisees
and told them what Jesus had done.
So the chief priests and the Pharisees
convened the Sanhedrin and said,
“What are we going to do?
This man is performing many signs.
If we leave him alone, all will believe in him,
and the Romans will come
and take away both our land and our nation.”
But one of them, Caiaphas,
who was high priest that year, said to them,
“You know nothing,
nor do you consider that it is better for you
that one man should die instead of the people,
so that the whole nation may not perish.”
He did not say this on his own,
but since he was high priest for that year,
he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation,
and not only for the nation,
but also to gather into one the dispersed children of God.
So from that day on they planned to kill him.

So Jesus no longer walked about in public among the Jews,
but he left for the region near the desert,
to a town called Ephraim,
and there he remained with his disciples.

Now the Passover of the Jews was near,
and many went up from the country to Jerusalem
before Passover to purify themselves.
They looked for Jesus and said to one another
as they were in the temple area, “What do you think?
That he will not come to the feast?”

Dear Friends,

            Do you hear the fear of the leaders?  They fear loosing control over the people, that they might turn from obedience to the Jewish leadership and temple worship to follow Jesus.  They fear the Romans will step in and take away their ability worship in the temple.  The Sanhedrin fears the Romans will take away their livelihood and kick them out of the land they call home or possible enslave them.  The Jewish leadership fears what will happen when everyone comes to Jerusalem for the Passover.  This fear of an unknown future drives the leaders to action.  There must be someone to blame and take the fall for their fears.  The next logical step is to destroy that which causes their fear, destroy that which causes a future of uncertainty.  The nation must destroy Jesus.

Maybe we have never known that kind of fear, that kind of uncertainty.   But, with the current pandemic developing we may now have a sense of the fear that was building at Passover.  We may be feeling called to action as well.  We want to do something to protect our jobs and our economy.  We want to do something to protect the style of life we have enjoyed.  We want to protect our future.  We may be looking for someone to blame, someone or something to take the fall for our suffering.  However, action driven by fear rarely causes a good result.  Let’s pause for a moment and consider a path not driven by fear.

Two thousand years ago they turned on Jesus.  We prepare for Holy Week because we know the events that will lead to the crucifixion and death of Jesus.  What if we, during this time of fear and anxiety, turn to Jesus and ask for him to intercede on our behalf.  What if we let go of our hopelessness and put our trust and faith in our God who goes before us.  We know things are going to change with this pandemic, but we do not have to let fear drive our actions.  We can become courageous, faith filled people that have a deep richer relationship with God.  We can become sacrificial people that put the needs of the other before their own.  We can build his Kingdom, founded on the love of the Father, right here and now.  We can be inspired by his love or destroyed by our fear. So, let us pray to become a people of action, driven by our love of God and the love of his holy people.