May the Lord give you peace and health in the Holy Spirit.
It is on 16th March 2024.
We reflect on Jeremiah 11:18-20 and John 7:40-53.
The first reading invites us to imbibe the spirit of surrendering to God at the time of hardships and rejection.
The people in the hometown of Jeremiah plotted to silence him due to economic, religious, political, and personal reasons.
The prophet had only two options. Either to run away or to surrender to the Lord. Fight back with the help of God or flee from the situation.
Jeremiah called on God and God responded to him in time of need. The reinforcement and the courage to face the resistance come from our leaning on God.
The responsorial Psalm prays, “Lord God, I take refuge in you.” (Ps.7:2).
In the Gospel, we hear that the plot against Jesus is thickening.
The truth has its place even if people shut off it from their lives.
God used Nicodemus along with a few people to speak for the truth and to give a fair listening to the truth.
Jesus is the truth and needs to be given a chance in our lives and in the community, we live in. Even if the whole world is against the message of Jesus, it is our moral responsibility as a believer to tell it with conviction.
Our openness to the message of Christ is required when there are millions of diversifying voices are heard around us.
Our arrogance and pride in possessing a particular string of knowledge or skill must not extinguish the flames of truth.
It is time to speak for Jesus even if there are oppositions around us.
It is time to stand by Jesus and to lean on Him when we ourselves are faced with such resistance in our lives.
We need to create room for truth to be born.
Truth does not require human testimony.
And therefore, we must not jump to conclusions when we have a limited portion of the truth.
Our truthful living is only a witness to what we already believe in.
It is our openness and courage to accept the truth that makes the truth come out in and around us.
Our faith and social encounters have to help us to encounter Jesus, the Truth.
May God bless you.