"If any one keeps my word, he will never taste death."
John 8 : 52
In today’s Gospel we enter into a clash of the civilizations – the Kingdom of God versus the kingdom of the world. As Jesus continues to reveal himself as the one whom God sent to do the Father’s will, the Jews persecute and criticize him. They think he is possessed because of his claims of equality with God, and they want to kill him. Despite their disbelief, Jesus does not tire in teaching and speaking the truth.
What was Jesus saying? He was saying that God is his Father in a special way that applied to no other human being. Many today admire the great love that Jesus had for the poor, his miracles and his personality. All these are good reasons, but at the heart of the Christian faith is the acknowledgement that Jesus is more than a good man: he is God.
Lent is a time for each one of us to renew and refresh our own grasp of this glorious truth of Christian revelation that in Jesus God became man.
In the Eucharist when we remember his Passion, Death and Resurrection, we are in a position to join with him and through him to make intercession for the whole world.
Zen teaching says that, in the end, only three things matter; how deeply we loved, how fully we lived, and how freely we learned to let go. Let us live thus, and we will never die.
Prayer
Everlasting Father, we praise you and thank you for sending us your Son to free us from our sins. Strengthen us in faith and love. Amen
