+ The Prophet Jeremiah has in his own life the
experience of being denounced and
stalked by his own friends: “all those
who were my friends are on the watch for any misstep of mine; perhaps he will
be trapped; then we can prevail, and take our vengeance on him!” This is a
sure prophecy of what would happen to Jesus at a later time: in the gospel
passage today we see the Jews trying to trip Jesus up because they fail to
understand his unique and real relationship with his heavenly Father: the one
sent by him into the world to reconcile us, the one who has the right to be
called true Son of God (because that is exactly what he is). Jesus tells them
then if they do not believe what he says about himself as Son of God – they
should at least believe that he is unique and from God because of the quality of the works that he does: his spiritually
revolutionary preaching, and his miracles that have no other explanation
than originating in God himself.
But these prejudiced and stiff-necked people reject any claim that Jesus
makes on being in a special relationship with the very God of their fathers:
and they try to arrest him – but as
it was not yet his exact hour to finally be handed over, he escaped from their power and went back across the Jordan to the
place where John first baptized, and there he remained. There many came to
believe in him for they realized that everything John said about this man was
true.
We have a unique and special
invitation to listen to Jesus speak at this Mass and to witness his greatest
sign of all: the changing of bread and wine by the priest into his Real and
True Body and Blood as supernatural nourishment for our spiritual lives for
which we are responsible for growth and maturity! May we appreciate what
happens here to the maximum – for it is astounding as it is breathtaking!
We
love you, O Lord, our strength, O Lord, our rock, our fortress, our deliverer.
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