Don Bosco Philippines South Province

Homily on Friday, Fifth Week of Lent, 22 March 2024, FSpIF Chapel, Talamban

We are almost at the end of our final approach towards Holy Week. In two days time we will be celebrating the Passion of the Lord.

The Gospel passage we have heard today presents the last part of Jesus’ stress-filled dialogue with the unbelieving Pharisees and the people of Jerusalem. It was his last attempt to make himself known to them and convince them that he was truly God’s Son sent be the Father. But the Jews consistently kept their minds and hearts closed. Triggered by the seemingly blasphemous declarations they were hearing from the TRUTH personified, they finally unleashed their raging EGO to pick up rocks to stone Jesus, unaware that He was indeed the TRUTH sent by the Father to set them free from their self-made enslavement to sin.

Jesus managed, however, to escape from their clutches. He must have been exasperated. He could not believe having failed in his final attempt to make them realize that the good works he had done were clear signs that he and the Father were one. I guess he must have realized that his being one hundred percent human had put a certain limit to his supernatural powers coming from his being one hundred percent divine. This I have already mentioned in my previous homily last Wednesday.

And so, despite the powerful truth of the words he spoke, sad to say, Jesus had to accept failure. He failed to convince his fellow Jews to accept his own testimony, not because the truth was weak but because human freedom was strong. The Jews like the men and women of this world have been endowed with the gift of freedom right from the very beginning of creation. For this reason, salvation could never really be force or imposed on his own people who obstinately refused to be saved. It must be received and accepted with full knowledge and free will so that the gift may truly be cherished and appreciated. Only in that way can humankind be set free from the bondage of sin. Fully aware of this, Jesus, therefore, recognized and respected their personal freedom and instead of reacting violently by calling down thunder and lightning from heaven to annihilate them, he chose to simply walk away.

And as he walked away, drained and probably depressed, Jesus thought of returning to the very place where he started his mission three years earlier; the place was no other than the River Jordan. It was there that he was baptized by John. Failure could at times be a cause of one’s discouragement and can be a hindrance to achieve one’s goal. But the good news is that Jesus did not allow human failure to deter him from his goal. He chose to recharge himself and be replenished with so much positive energy coming from those living springs that brought about his life-changing encounter with the Father – the God who in that river told him who he really was and what his mission would be.

Brothers and sisters, very soon we will find ourselves spiritually on Calvary where our salvation was won by Jesus. Whatever we are going through in life especially the difficulties and hardships brought about by the various trials we had been facing, bodily sickness, loss of homes, livelihood and loved ones, conflict in relationships, let the liturgical celebrations this coming Holy Week recharge our hearts and replenish us with positive energy. It is only when we are empowered by Christ’s boundless love on the cross that we will be able to face the real challenges of life with greater hope and optimism.

Therefore, in union with Jesus let us retrace our steps spiritually to our own River Jordan, where we had been baptized into Christ. In the waters of baptism we too received our true identity as adopted children of God, freed from our slavery to sin and empowered to share in Christ’s mission of saving humanity and the whole world. This is precisely what we are preparing to do on Easter Sunday when we will be renewing our baptismal promises, and afterwards sprinkled with Holy Water.

These coming days let us find some ME time to reflect on ourselves, and see whether we too, like the Pharisees, are still locked up in our own insecure EGO, afraid to confront the truth about ourselves. Let us ask Jesus to release us from this bondage, to take us by the hand and walk with Him in his redemptive passion, death and resurrection. As we enter more deeply into the heart of the Lenten season, may this Mass and every Eucharist we celebrate lead us also to enter more deeply into the very heart of Christ. Though he seemed a failure in his ministry, he actually won the most decisive victory for all humanity. GiGsss!

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