Fri. Mar 29th, 2024

Lent Week 4, Thursday – Ex 32:7-14; John 5:31-47

A stack of books

There’s no guarantee that reading them all will let you become any wiser

Another day of difficult reading from the Gospel of John. The dispute between Jesus and the spiritual leaders of Israel goes on. They didn’t listen to Him. They knew better, because after all they studied the scriptures. They knew better, because . . . . they convinced each other that they did. They looked to one another for approval – as Jesus puts it. And adds: “How can you believe, since you look to one another for approval and are not concerned with the approval that comes from the one God?”.

Today . . . . How often do we see these days believers, even those in high places, who do not listen to Jesus but to one another. They know what God wants because they have studied what has been written. Not the Gospels, from which they select only what is convenient, but various modern theologians. And they draw from it lots of ahs and oohs because it supports their own wisdom, insight, and tendency to dialogue and openness to the world’s suggestions . . .

Alright, but what about me? Do I always want to listen to Jesus? To be faithful to Him, above all. To live in what I understand in the Gospel, even if I don’t understand it all. And certainly, to never say that the circumstances, the times, and so on, allow me to know better what is needed than my Master.